Victoria Norton

Purpose: Insufficient dietary fibre intake can increase chronic disease risk with identification of effective strategies considered a public health priority. However, there are no UK-based dietary fibre intake tools to estimate consumption habits. This study addresses this gap by developing a novel dietary fibre screening tool (SCREEN-IT) for the UK population and explores validity, reproducibility and usability insights. Methods: SCREEN-IT was developed based on key dietary fibre-rich food categories in the UK diet. The validity of SCREEN-IT (10-item) was tested against a UK-based Food Frequency Questionnaire (eNutri-FFQ; 157-item) seven-days apart ( n = 70; 55.1 ± 18.7 years). SCREEN-IT reproducibility ( n = 155; 51.7 ± 18.2 years) was evaluated on two occasions (four-weeks apart) and usability (System Usability Scale; SUS) was assessed. Intra-class correlation coefficients, percentage difference, quartile agreement, weighted kappa and Bland-Altman plots were used to quantify agreement and extent of bias. Results: Agreement between methods (SCREEN-IT vs. eNutri-FFQ) was “acceptable to good agreement”; higher dietary fibre estimates from eNutri-FFQ (mean bias: −3.91 g/d). SCREEN-IT was quick to complete (< 5-min) with higher SUS than eNutri-FFQ (83.4 vs. 76.8/100). SCREEN-IT was reproducible on re-test (“acceptable to good agreement”), mean bias close to zero (−0.04 g/d), high usability (84.9/100) and received positive feedback (easy-to-use, functional, thought-provoking, enjoyable). Conclusion: SCREEN-IT was successfully developed with favourable validity, reproducibility and usability feedback. It was considered a suitable tool to estimate dietary fibre intake for the UK population. This novel tool could help raise dietary fibre awareness by promoting relevant food sources in a quick and easy way to increase future intake.

Currently, dietary fibre intakes within UK populations are far below those recommended for reducing chronic disease risk. Dietary fibre is present predominantly in plant-based foods and is not digested or absorbed in the upper gastrointestinal tract, passing to the colon where it may be fermented by the gut microbiota. Types, contents and properties (notably solubility, viscosity and fermentability) of fibre vary considerably between food sources, which may result in different effects on human physiology. There is strong evidence for the benefits of dietary fibre, particularly cereal fibre and wholegrain, in reducing the risk of cardiometabolic diseases and colorectal cancer by increasing faecal mass, fermentation to short-chain fatty acids, lowering blood lipids and improving glycaemic control. There is, therefore, an urgent need to develop effective strategies to increase the intake of dietary fibre across the UK population. Here, we consider strategies comprising better nutritional education, public health messaging, more informative and effective food labelling, food reformulation, food fortification and biofortification, policy change and maintenance of the supply chain. Engagement of multiple stakeholders within the food system in this common ambition is essential for success. This requires transformation of the UK food system to ensure the sustainable availability of palatable, affordable, fibre-rich foods, ideally accompanied by individual motivation for dietary change. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Transforming terrestrial food systems for human and planetary health’.

There is a growing emphasis on sustainable approaches; however, consumer-related barriers can modulate adherence. Therefore, engaging future generations from an early age in adopting sustainable food-packaging practices is fundamental. This paper investigates food-packaging-related knowledge, preferences, and engagement levels at a UK science-based event. School-aged children (n = 255; 8–18 years) completed various activities to initiate conversation encompassing food packaging disposal, symbols, issues, preferences, and behaviour, as well as educational-based discussions. Most children were able to select the correct response for disposal-related questions; however, they struggled to correctly identify the appropriate bin for used food items (e.g., pizza box). Children’s knowledge of symbols varied considerably: Mobius loop and Fairtrade symbols were easily recognisable, whereas there was no clear consensus/poor knowledge for the remaining symbols. Children’s main food packaging issues were ‘excessive packaging’ and ‘bins are full’ and key information searching locations were labels-on-pack and digital sources. Currently, 51% of the children adopt sustainable approaches; therefore, engaging more children in such practices is essential. 77% of the children were interested in changing future food-packaging behaviour. Going forward, sustainable food-packaging practices need to be incorporated into the school curriculum to promote engagement as well as improving infrastructure so that children can easily implement appropriate practices; thus, resulting in notable societal impact.

Food waste is a global challenge and fits within the remit of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 12; hence, strategies to promote engagement, especially at an individual level, are key to maximise societal benefits. Accordingly, it is important to understand the relevant design cues from a segmentation and intervention viewpoint for food waste. This review aims to explore (i) common characteristics associated with food waste segmentation and (ii) delivery formats typically utilised in food waste interventions. Overall, it was apparent that food waste encompasses a broad term per se, resulting in varying quantification approaches, which subsequently contribute to heterogenicity of the findings. However, key themes emerged, such as gender, age, food waste level, motivation, engagement and environment as common components from the food waste segmentation. Visual (text, infographic, booklets), audio/oral (videos, door stepping, coaching), interactive (recipe, community engagement, diary/notepad) and touch (magnet, bins, stickers) were the dominant delivery formats used in food waste interventions; suggesting that a combination of senses is required to successfully promote engagement and behavioural effects. Going forwards, more consistency in measuring food waste is needed to enable comparison (within and between countries), coupled with the consideration of design cues, so that toolkits can be developed to meet the needs of differing consumer segments.

There is increasing pressure for everyone to adopt sustainable behaviours and typically this starts at-home via appropriate food-based disposal practices; however, this is associated with various barriers impacting compliance. Targeted education in college and/or the university environment could provide a viable approach to overcome such difficulties; yet, limited readily available resources exist to bring this forth. This paper explores students’ food packaging expectations and attitudes as well as information preferences in four countries (UK, France, India, and China). Students (n = 533) completed an online survey capturing food packaging purchase-based decisions, disposal-related challenges, and communication preferences. Students noted that food packaging had a dominant role in product choice. Fresh produce was considered an area for improvement, especially in the UK, India, and France, whereas snacks/baked goods were a priority in China. Disposal-related challenges were mostly associated with mixed materials. Students cited no clear information, limited choices, excessive packaging, and no nearby bins as common food packaging issues. This suggests that improving infrastructure (more bins, clearer signing) could be fundamental to encourage students to implement more sustainable food packaging behaviour. Furthermore, colleges and/or universities should consider students’ preferred information formats (infographics, videos) and develop targeted education (recyclability) which can be easily disseminated to promote engagement and sustainable food packaging knowledge and awareness.