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The good news is still there: people in Germany are eating better in many areas than four years ago. Tomatoes, legumes, and peas are more common in this country, as are berries. And we drink more sugar-free beverages such as mineral water and herbal or fruit infusions. At the same time, the consumption of pork, yogurt and milk has decreased, and the same happens with juices, nectars, sparkling wine, spirits and beer. That’s the result of the fourteenth nutrition report from the German Nutrition Society (DGE), which was published on Tuesday.
“The increase in the consumption of soft drinks has stopped and shows only a weak positive trend,” says the report, which appears every four years and helps to analyze the nutritional situation of the population in Germany in the long term. Total alcohol consumption has continued to decline, especially beer: it has decreased by 900 milliliters per capita per year.
Photo: German Nutrition Society V.
Eating plants is better for the climate
According to the report, the positive trend in vegetables has been evident for years. “A plant-based diet is not only good for health, it is also climate-friendly,” said Helmut Heseker, a nutritionist at the University of Paderborn and editor-in-chief of the nutrition report. However, there is still a lot of room for improvement, which should not be hidden in the good news. Consumption of fresh potatoes, cereals and fruits, for example, has decreased significantly. “On average, people eat 20 kilograms of apples per capita per year,” said Kurt Gedrich of the Institute for Food and Health at the Technical University of Munich. “Ten years ago it was 1.5 kilograms more.”
Total meat consumption is still very high, 60 kilograms per capita per year. Additionally, people have eaten more beef, veal, and poultry in the past four years, and cheese consumption has also increased. However, these foods are high in saturated fatty acids and, according to the DGE’s recommendations, should only be consumed in small amounts.
Obesity also remains a problem that begins early in life: According to analyzes, 40 percent of all pregnant women were overweight in 2017 and the trend is increasing. A normal-weight woman should not gain more than 16 kilograms in nine months. Because being overweight also has consequences for the child: “Gaining too much weight during pregnancy also increases a child’s risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus, high blood pressure and metabolic syndrome,” says Heseker.
Photo: German Nutrition Society V.
After all, the number of overweight boys is no longer increasing, but remains at a high level: among young people aged 3 to 17 years, 15 percent of boys were too fat between 2014 and 2017. In adult men , being overweight is now more the norm: 59.4 percent of people aged 18 to 65 weigh too much. For women of the same age, it is 37.3 percent.
No disadvantage for vegan children
To date, little research has been done on how a vegetarian or vegan diet affects children in Germany. Ute Alexy from the University of Bonn and Markus Keller from the Institute for Alternative and Sustainable Nutrition (Ifane) surveyed 401 children between the ages of 6 and 18 in a cross-sectional study, 114 of whom were vegan, 150 vegetarian, and 137 with mixed foods ( omnivor). With the support of their parents, they gave information about their food consumption for three days and weighed themselves. In addition, they had to be measured and weighed in one of the three study centers and were administered blood and urine.
These measurements allowed the researchers of the “VeChi-Youth” study to have an objective look at the data and an idea of the supply of important nutrients to children and adolescents. However, the participants were not representative of all children in Germany. Only 16 were overweight, corresponding to a 0.34 percent share.
The result: in all three groups, the supply of the main nutrients, as well as vitamins and minerals, was sufficient. With a vegan diet in particular, there is a risk that children will not get enough protein, calcium or vitamin B12 – nutrients that are found a lot in foods of animal origin. However, with a very precise knowledge of the ingredients, these can be largely replaced by other foods. The survey showed that vegan children and adolescents had a very high fiber diet: “They ate three to seven times more legumes and seven to ten times more nuts than omnivorous children,” says Markus Keller. On the other hand, they consumed less saturated fat and sugar than the other two groups.
In general, more vegan children received vitamin B12 well than children who followed a vegetarian or omnivorous diet. The reason: They took the vitamin, which is important for nerve function, blood formation and cell division, as a supplement.
In all three groups, it was shown that very few adolescents received adequate iodine: for vegans it was only 57 percent, for children on a vegetarian diet it was 62 percent, and for children on a mixed diet it was 75 percent. The vital trace mineral is found in fish, eggs, and dairy products, but also in iodized table salt and is essential for nerve cells and the thyroid.
According to the DGE, it is also necessary to act with calcium, because only 46 percent of vegan children reach the recommended reference value and 67 percent of omnivores (56 percent of vegetarians).
Photo: German Nutrition Society V.
“Vitamin B2, vitamin D, iodine and calcium were found to be critical nutrients in all three diets,” the report said. Vitamin D, which is absorbed only 10 to 20 percent from food and is produced in the skin when exposed to sunlight, is too low in many children, adolescents, and adults. “If children who drink little or no milk have too low a vitamin D level in winter,” advises nutritionist Alexy, “then you should consider taking supplements.”
According to another study by DGE President Jakob Linseisen, a sufficiently high level of vitamin D can even protect against acute respiratory illnesses such as colds. In case of insufficient supply of vitamin D, vitamin D as a dietary supplement could have a positive influence on the prevention of acute respiratory infections. “Based on the data, we cannot say whether vitamin D influences the risk of corona infection or the course,” says Linseisen.
