SHiFT researcher completes doctoral work on sustainability domains of healthy diets in Viet Nam

The CGIAR Research Initiative on Sustainable Healthy Diets through Food Systems Transformation (SHiFT). is pleased to announce that  Dr. Son Duy Nguyen successfully defended his doctoral dissertation in July at Wageningen University and Research (WUR) in the Netherlands. The topic of his dissertation was an examination of the sustainability of diets in Viet Nam. His research explored how sustainable healthy diets can be promoted without furthering negative impacts on the environment, looking at trade-offs and synergies across various scenarios and considering diverse population groups and geographical areas within Viet Nam.

Nutrient inadequacies persist in Viet Nam, particularly among adult women, with limited improvement from 2010-2020. The nutrition transition has meant diets in urban and rural areas have become less similar over time. Dr. Nguyen’s study demonstrated that poor diet quality is associated with rising environmental impacts, in particular greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, over time. One of his conclusions is that the relationship between diet quality, environmental impacts, and affordability complicates efforts to achieve sustainable healthy diets for all in Viet Nam and women’s diets are more affected than men’s. His study emphasized the need to incorporate environmental sustainability considerations, starting with GHG emissions and blue water use, in the revisions to Viet Nam’s dietary guidelines and calls for more life cycle assessment studies in low- and middle-income countries to inform food system policies.

Dr. Nguyen’s doctoral studies were funded in part by the CGIAR Trust Fund, first through the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH) and continuing through SHiFT. Dr. Elise Talsma, SHiFT researcher from WUR, was part of his daily supervision, and Dr. Michiel van Dijk, also a SHiFT researcher from WUR, was part of his exam committee.

Dr. Nguyen is a researcher at the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), one of SHiFT’s Strategic Partners in Viet Nam.

The International Food Policy Research Institute and the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT lead SHiFT in close collaboration with Wageningen University and Research and with contributions from the International Potato Center. SHiFT combines high-quality nutritional and social science research capacity with development partnerships to generate innovative, robust solutions that contribute to healthier, more sustainable dietary choices and consumption of sustainable healthy diets. It builds on CGIAR’s unparalleled track record of agricultural research for development, including ten years of work on food systems and nutrition under the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health.