Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Icelandic Children’s Diets – Implications for Food Based Dietary Guidelines for Children

Objectives: New food based dietary guidelines (FBDGs) in Iceland 2024, based on the "Nordic Nutrition Recommendations 2023 – integrating environmental aspects" will emphasize diet in childhood. Therefore, our objective was to estimate dietary greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Icelandic children's and adolescents' diet and to define top food groups that contribute to the GHG emissions in their diet. Methods: Participants were randomly selected in 2003-2012 nation-wide sampling from the Icelandic population registry for 3, 5 and 6 years of age children (n= 618) and from a cluster sampling of schools in all four regions in the country (9 and 15 years of age) (n=366). The participating children at the age of 3, 5 and 6 years completed the 3 day food registration study. The dietary intake of the participating 9 years old children and 15 years old adolescents was collected by two repeated 24-h recalls. Participating children at the age of 3 years were n=225, 5 years n=231, 6 years n=162, 9 years n=183 and 15 years n=183. Dietary intake data were used to estimate dietary GHG emissions, using the life cycle assessment (LCA) database from Denmark. Results: Estimated from dietary GHG emissions increased with age. The mean daily GHG emissions among 3, 5-, 6-, 9- and 15-years old Icelandic children were 2.97, 3.10, 3.45, 4.40 and 5.05 kg carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2eq)/day, respectively. The largest contributors to daily GHG emissions were meat, dairy and fish. For 3 years and 5 years old children meat, dairy and fish contribution of GHG emissions were 28%, 18% and 14% and 26%, 15% and 15 %, respectively. The diet of the 6, 9 and 15 years old children similarly showed that meat contributed by 28% - 30% of the carbon footprint, while dairy contributed by 15% - 25%, being proportionately highest for the youngest group. These values were similar to those of adults in the most recent national dietary survey of adults in Iceland. The GHG of the diet of the younger children give slightly lower GHG emissions, mainly because of a lower intake of meat. Conclusions: The estimated GHG emissions through the Icelandic children's diet are substantial. New FBDGs will incorporate this consideration in developing dietary guidance to support a sustainable healthier environment from the early stages of life. Funding Sources: Research Fund of the University of Iceland, The Icelandic Research Fund.