Reducing the Environmental Impact of Dietary Choice: Perspectives from a Behavioural and Social Change Approach

Climate change is recognised as a significant public health issue that will impact on food security. One of the major contributors to global warming is the livestock industry, and, relative to plant-based agriculture, meat production has a much higher environmental impact in relation to freshwater use, amount of land required, and waste products generated. Promoting increased consumption of plant-based foods is a recommended strategy to reduce human impact on the environment and is also now recognised as a potential strategy to reduce the high rates of some chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and certain cancers. Currently there is a scant evidence base for policies and programs aiming to increase consumption of plant-based diets and little research on the necessary conditions for that change to occur and the processes involved in such a change. This paper reviews some of the environmental and health consequences of current dietary practices, reviews literature on the determinants of consuming a plant-based diet, and provides recommendations for further research in this area

Reducing the Environmental Impact of Dietary Choice: Perspectives from a Behavioural and Social Change Approach

Climate change is recognised as a significant public health issue that will impact on food security. One of the major contributors to global warming is the livestock industry, and, relative to plant-based agriculture, meat production has a much higher environmental impact in relation to freshwater use, amount of land required, and waste products generated. Promoting increased consumption of plant-based foods is a recommended strategy to reduce human impact on the environment and is also now recognised as a potential strategy to reduce the high rates of some chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and certain cancers. Currently there is a scant evidence base for policies and programs aiming to increase consumption of plant-based diets and little research on the necessary conditions for that change to occur and the processes involved in such a change. This paper reviews some of the environmental and health consequences of current dietary practices, reviews literature on the determinants of consuming a plant-based diet, and provides recommendations for further research in this area

Reducing the Environmental Impact of Dietary Choice: Perspectives from a Behavioural and Social Change Approach

Climate change is recognised as a significant public health issue that will impact on food security. One of the major contributors to global warming is the livestock industry, and, relative to plant-based agriculture, meat production has a much higher environmental impact in relation to freshwater use, amount of land required, and waste products generated. Promoting increased consumption of plant-based foods is a recommended strategy to reduce human impact on the environment and is also now recognised as a potential strategy to reduce the high rates of some chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and certain cancers. Currently there is a scant evidence base for policies and programs aiming to increase consumption of plant-based diets and little research on the necessary conditions for that change to occur and the processes involved in such a change. This paper reviews some of the environmental and health consequences of current dietary practices, reviews literature on the determinants of consuming a plant-based diet, and provides recommendations for further research in this area

Reducing the Environmental Impact of Dietary Choice: Perspectives from a Behavioural and Social Change Approach

Climate change is recognised as a significant public health issue that will impact on food security. One of the major contributors to global warming is the livestock industry, and, relative to plant-based agriculture, meat production has a much higher environmental impact in relation to freshwater use, amount of land required, and waste products generated. Promoting increased consumption of plant-based foods is a recommended strategy to reduce human impact on the environment and is also now recognised as a potential strategy to reduce the high rates of some chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and certain cancers. Currently there is a scant evidence base for policies and programs aiming to increase consumption of plant-based diets and little research on the necessary conditions for that change to occur and the processes involved in such a change. This paper reviews some of the environmental and health consequences of current dietary practices, reviews literature on the determinants of consuming a plant-based diet, and provides recommendations for further research in this area

The Cow in the Room: Public Knowledge of the Links Between Dietary Choices and Health and Environmental Impacts

Issue Addressed: This paper describes results of a survey comparing people’s knowledge of health and environmental impacts of dietary choices. Dietary choice is one of the key ways in which individuals can reduce their environmental impact in relation to water use and greenhouse gas emissions but this may not be widely known amongst the public due to limited press coverage.Methods: A street intercept survey was conducted asking open ended questions on how people can help the environment, maintain or improve health and basic demographics. The sample size was 107 with a refusal rate of 51%.Results: Only 3.2% of the sample made a link between dietary choice and environmental impact whereas 85.6% of the sample referred to dietary choice in relation to personal health. Transport options and keeping active were popular responses to both health and environmental categories.Conclusions: It seems that very few people are aware that the livestock sector is the second largest contributor to equivalent greenhouse gas emissions and one of the largest users of fresh water. Reduction in red meat consumption could have both important positive health and environmental impacts

Using local evidence to inform public health priorities for lesbian and bisexual women’s sexual health

The 2010 National Women’s Health Policy (NWHP) acknowledged for the first time that lesbian and bisexual women may be at risk of poor health outcomes. It called for “information and access to services to sexual health, reproductive health, safe sex practices, screening and maternal health”. A lack of systematic, nuanced research on the sexual health of Australian lesbian and bisexual women has resulted in lack of data and difficulty in understanding the needs of and how best to respond to this group. AIM To identify the sexual health needs of lesbian and bisexual wome

Women in contact with the gay and lesbian community in Sydney: Report of the Sydney Women and Sexual Health (SWASH) Survey 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2012

The Sydney Women and Sexual Health (SWASH) survey is run by a collaboration of ACON and researchers at the University of Sydney (prior to 2009, researchers were based at the University of New South Wales). It was first carried out in 1996, initiated by workers from two ACON projects, Women Partners of Gay and Bisexual Men and the Gay and Lesbian Injecting Drug Use Project, who were faced with a lack of empirical evidence on which to base their intervention work. The survey is regularly revised to reflect the needs of the community and knowledge deficits identified through research literature. Over its lifetime, SWASH has become a comprehensive survey of sexual health and wellbeing, violence, mental health and levels of psychological distress, and a number of other important health issues relevant to lesbian, bisexual and queer (LBQ) women, such as tobacco use, illicit drug use, alcohol consumption, and cancer screening behaviours. Where possible, questions have been used from established national surveys such as the Australian Health Survey, National Drug Strategy Household Survey, Australian Study of Health and Relationships, and Australian Longitudinal Survey of Women’s Health. While research on LBQ women’s health and wellbeing has increased since the birth of the survey, epidemiological data on sexual health, mental health, experiences of abuse and violence and behaviours such as screening, illicit drug use, alcohol and smoking that can leave women vulnerable to adverse health outcomes, is still inconsistent. Moreover, as long as the inclusion of sexuality questions in large epidemiological surveys remains patchy or data is reported only by sexuality and not by sexuality and gender, SWASH provides a unique and important source of health-related information about Australian LBQ women. This report presents results from surveys conducted at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Fair Day and other community events and venues during the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras seasons in 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2012

'We don't have any of those people here...'

Most people ageing with HIV in Australia are, and will continue to be, gay men. For those who avoided disclosing their sexuality throughout their lives or who have limited disclosure to a small circle, the prospect of dealing with aged-care services can be daunting. For many older gay men diagnosed with HIV in the eighties or nineties, the concerns around disclosing sexuality are compounded by past experiences of stigma and discrimination due to their sexuality, with additional fears around disclosure of their HIV-positive status. The GRAI research outlined in this article raises important issues that must be addressed in planning for the diversity of the Australian population - planning that needs to acknowledge the issues faced by the Australian cohort of gay men ageing with HIV. (Eds.

A research and evaluation capacity building model in Western Australia

Evaluation of public health programs, services and policies is increasingly required to demonstrate effectiveness. Funding constraints necessitate that existing programs, services and policies be evaluated and their findings disseminated. Evidence-informed practice and policy is also desirable to maximise investments in public health. Partnerships between public health researchers, service providers and policymakers can help address evaluation knowledge and skills gaps. The Western Australian Sexual Health and Blood-borne Virus Applied Research and Evaluation Network (SiREN) aims to build research and evaluation capacity in the sexual health and blood-borne virus sector in Western Australia (WA). Partners’ perspectives of the SiREN model after 2 years were explored. Qualitative written responses from service providers, policymakers and researchers about the SiREN model were analysed thematically. Service providers reported that participation in SiREN prompted them to consider evaluation earlier in the planning process and increased their appreciation of the value of evaluation. Policymakers noted benefits of the model in generating local evidence and highlighting local issues of importance for consideration at a national level. Researchers identified challenges communicating the services available through SiREN and the time investment needed to develop effective collaborative partnerships. Stronger engagement between public health researchers, service providers and policymakers through collaborative partnerships has the potential to improve evidence generation and evidence translation. These outcomes require long-term funding and commitment from all partners to develop and maintain partnerships. Ongoing monitoring and evaluation can ensure the partnership remains responsive to the needs of key stakeholders. The findings are applicable to many sectors