Experts Urge Planetary Diets Against Communicable Diseases

Health experts have asked Nigeria to adopt planetary diets to combat non-communicable diseases (NCDs) which killed 617,300 people in 2020, accounting for 30 per cent of annual deaths.

The experts spoke at a media training in Lagos, organised by the Renevlyn Development Initiative (RDI) in partnership with the global advocacy group, Food Justice, to equip journalists with tools to advocate for a dietary revolution.

The executive director, RDI, Phillip Jakpor, said 22 per cent of 2020 deaths were premature among those aged 30-70, with cardiovascular disease alone claiming 190,897 lives.

He posited that NCDs held steady at 29-30 per cent of deaths into 2021, blaming unsustainable food systems for the high death rate.

Mexican researcher Dr Andrea Arango Angarita presented data showing sustainable diets could cut food costs by 12-24.7 per cent and carbon emissions by 63 per cent compared to current patterns.

“All sustainable diets were cheaper,” she said, though vegan and vegetarian options lack vitamin B12, requiring policy tweaks like plant-based subsidies and meat taxes.

Dr Chioma Joy Okonkwo outlined embedding global nutrition evidence into Lagos policies, while Milan Urban Food Policy Pact’s Ottavia Pieretto pitched school feeding as a cost-effective fix for child nutrition, local farmers, and eco-friendly systems.

Media trainer, Tope Oluwaleye, clarified the concept for Nigerian audiences, describing the planetary health diet as “a science-based dietary pattern designed to promote human health and protect the planet.”