Complex, contradictory, and confusing: exploring consumer dilemmas in navigating sustainable healthy nutrition knowledge

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dc.contributor.authorBourke, Bríd C.en
dc.contributor.authorMcCarthy, Sinéad N.en
dc.contributor.authorMcCarthy, Mary B.en
dc.contributor.funderDepartment of Agriculture, Food, the Marineen
dc.contributor.funderDepartment of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairsen
dc.date.accessioned2025-05-14T11:22:04Z
dc.date.available2025-05-14T11:22:04Z
dc.date.issued2025-04-07en
dc.description.abstractNations are revising dietary guidelines to include sustainability recommendations in response to climate change concerns. Given low adherence to current guidelines, consumer inertia is a challenge. A proliferation of nutrition information providers and dietary messages contributes to confusion. All this suggests that health professionals will face considerable obstacles in facilitating a population shift towards sustainable and healthy (SuHe) diets. This review explores the role of nutrition science in shaping dietary behavior and the challenges of shifting the nutrition narrative to encompass both health and sustainability. Societal transformation towards the ‘asks’ of a SuHe diet will rely on consumer level transformation of food acquisition, preparation, consumption, storage and disposal behaviours. Acceptance of a higher share of plant-based food and a reduction in animal protein in the diet is likely to provoke disorientations as consumers’ previously unexamined beliefs are challenged. The challenges presented by portion size distortion, protein reduction and replacement, and the role of ultra processed food are discussed here in terms of sources of confusion. The routes to change involve deeper understanding of responses to disorientations through processes of belief formation and transformation, which are the foundations of subjective knowledge and attitudes, likely mediated through affective factors. In tandem with introducing new potentially disorienting-to-consumers information, health professionals need to consider the environments where this information is presenting and consider how these environments are designed to support action. In doing so, reactance and backlash through belief rejection and behavioural non-adherence could be reduced.en
dc.description.sponsorshipDepartment of Agriculture, Food, the Marine (grant number: 2019R546); Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (grant number 19/R/546)en
dc.description.statusPeer revieweden
dc.description.versionAccepted Versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.citationBourke, B. C., McCarthy, S. N. and McCarthy, M. B. (2025) 'Complex, contradictory, and confusing: exploring consumer dilemmas in navigating sustainable healthy nutrition knowledge', Proceedings of the Nutrition Society. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0029665125001697en
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1017/S0029665125001697en
dc.identifier.eissn1475-2719en
dc.identifier.issn0029-6651en
dc.identifier.journaltitleProceedings of the Nutrition Societyen
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/17486
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherCambridge University Pressen
dc.relation.ispartofProceedings of the Nutrition Societyen
dc.relation.project2019R546en
dc.rights© 2025, the Authors. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Nutrition Society. This material is free to view and download for personal use only. Not for re-distribution, re-sale or use in derivative works.en
dc.subjectSustainable healthy dieten
dc.subjectConsumer behaviouren
dc.subjectKnowledgeen
dc.subjectAttitudesen
dc.subjectPracticeen
dc.subjectDisorientationen
dc.subjectDietary guidelinesen
dc.titleComplex, contradictory, and confusing: exploring consumer dilemmas in navigating sustainable healthy nutrition knowledgeen
dc.typeArticle (peer-reviewed)en
dc.typejournal-articleen
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