Healthy Nutrition
Nutrition is the fuel for our bodies and plays a crucial role in promoting a longer, healthier life. From sugar awareness to sustainable food choices: scientific research shows how healthy nutrition contributes to disease prevention, improved well-being, and reduced environmental impact.
In this category, we explore how dietary patterns affect our health and that of the planet. We discuss innovative research projects, such as SlimSmullen, which teaches children about the impact of sugar, and how policies, like the Food Act (Voedselwet), can contribute to a healthy food environment. Discover how you can make healthy choices yourself and what science teaches us about nutrition and sustainability.
Science Works | SlimSmullen teaches children all about sugar
Sugar: we eat too much of it, with all the consequences that come with it. Yet we still cannot get enough of it. Professor of Chemical Glycobiology Marthe Walvoort launched the SlimSmullen initiative to raise children’s awareness of the effects of sugar, using lesson plans and other resources.
According to Walvoort, sugar is not just a villain: ‘Sugar is not necessarily unhealthy. An apple also contains sugar, but that doesn't make it unhealthy.
What if we made the world unpleasant for obese people?
The number of people with obesity in the Netherlands is rising. The government and many health organisations view this as a major problem: it affects people’s quality of life and costs society a great deal of money. It’s high time we did something about it, because with weight-loss medications like Ozempic, we can all choose to be a healthy weight, can’t we?
Arie Dijkstra, Professor of Applied Psychology at the University of Groningen, disagrees: obesity is not a choice.
Young People and Aging Populations Shape Dietary Emissions
A new international study published in Nature Food reveals that age plays an important but often overlooked role in shaping global food-related greenhouse gas emissions. The study shows that dietary emissions can vary substantially across people’s life stages, reflecting differences in nutritional needs, demographic change, and evolving dietary patterns. Effective mitigation of dietary emissions therefore requires age-sensitive approaches.
Groningen roept Den Haag op tempo te maken met Voedselwet (Dutch)
Gedeputeerde Pascal Roemers van de provincie Groningen en wethouder Manouska Molema van de gemeente Groningen hebben vanmiddag in Den Haag de whitepaper ‘(Juridische) instrumenten voor een gezonde voedselomgeving’ overhandigd aan minister Jan Anthonie Bruijn van Volksgezondheid, Welzijn en Sport. De urgentie is groot, want overgewicht en obesitas zijn een groeiend probleem voor de volksgezondheid.
De whitepaper geeft gemeenten juridische en beleidsmatige instrumenten om de voedselomgeving gezonder te maken en gezondheid explicieter mee te wegen in beleid.
Insights into shopper acceptance of nutritional decision aids for healthier grocery shopping
A study by researchers Wieteke de Vries, Koert van Ittersum, and Jenny van Doorn, from the UG’s Faculty of Economics and Business, has unveiled critical insights into how nutritional decision aids (NDAs, like the Nutri-Score) can support healthier grocery shopping.
The research, titled "With a little help from my retailer: Shopper acceptance of nutritional decision aids supporting healthy grocery shopping," highlights the challenges shoppers face in making healthy food choices amidst a complex and often overwhelming retail environment.