Agriculture, food, and nutrition interventions that facilitate sustainable food production and impact health: an overview of systematic reviews
Date
2016-07Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Objectives. To identify the agriculture, food, and nutrition security interventions that
facilitate
sustainable food production and have a positive impact on health.
Methods. Systematic review methods were used to synthesize evidence from multiple
systematic
reviews and economic evaluations through a comprehensive search of 17 databases
and 10 websites. The search employed a pre-defined protocol with clear inclusion criteria. Both
grey and peer-reviewed
literature published in English, Spanish, and Portuguese between 1
January 1997 and November 2013 were included. To classify as “sustainable,” interventions
needed to aim to positively impact at least two dimensions of the integrated framework for
sustainable development and include measures of health impact.
Results. Fifteen systematic reviews and seven economic evaluations met the inclusion criteria.
All interventions had some impact on health or on risk factors for health outcomes, except those
related to genetically modified foods. Impact on health inequalities was rarely measured. All
interventions with economic evaluations were very cost-effective, had cost savings, or net benefits.
In addition to impacting health (inclusive social development), all interventions had the
potential to impact on inclusive economic development, and some, on environmental sustainability,
though these effects were rarely assessed.
Conclusions. What is needed now is careful implementation of interventions with expected
positive health impacts but with concurrent, rigorous evaluation. Possible impact on health
inequalities needs to be considered and measured by future primary studies and systematic
reviews, as does impact of interventions on all dimensions of sustainable development. Objetivos. Definir las intervenciones agropecuarias, alimentarias y relativas a la seguridad
nutricional que favorecen la producción sostenible de alimentos y tienen efectos positivos
sobre la salud.
Métodos. Se utilizaron métodos de revisión sistemática para sintetizar los datos obtenidos
de múltiples revisiones sistemáticas y evaluaciones económicas mediante una búsqueda
amplia en 17 bases de datos y 10 sitios web conforme a un protocolo predefinido
que constaba de criterios de inclusión claros. La búsqueda incluyó tanto bibliografía gris
como arbitrada publicada en inglés, español y portugués entre el 1 de enero de 1997 y 1 de
noviembre del 2013. Se consideraron “sostenibles” las intervenciones que tuvieron efectos
positivos en al menos dos dimensiones del marco integrado para el desarrollo sostenible
y que evaluaron los efectos sobre la salud.
Resultados. Cumplieron con los criterios de inclusión 15 revisiones sistemáticas y 7
evaluaciones económicas. Todas las intervenciones tuvieron algún efecto sobre la salud o
sobre los factores de riesgo de algunos resultados en materia de salud, a excepción de
aquellas relacionadas con los alimentos transgénicos. Muy pocos estudios determinaron
el efecto de las intervenciones sobre las desigualdades en materia de salud. Todas las
intervenciones sometidas a evaluaciones económicas fueron muy eficaces en función de
los costos, redujeron los costos o lograron beneficios netos. Además de incidir en la salud
(en la dimensión “desarrollo social inclusivo”), todas las intervenciones podrían influir en
la dimensión “desarrollo económico inclusivo” y algunas sobre la dimensión “sostenibilidad
ambiental”, aunque estos efectos fueron evaluados en muy pocas revisiones
sistemáticas.
Conclusiones. La ejecución cuidadosa de las intervenciones cuya aplicación prevé efectos
positivos para la salud debe acompañarse de una evaluación rigurosa. Es preciso tener
en cuenta y evaluar, mediante futuros estudios primarios y revisiones sistemáticas, tanto
los posibles efectos sobre las desigualdades en materia de salud como las repercusiones
de las intervenciones en todas las dimensiones del desarrollo sostenible.
Translated title
Intervenciones agropecuarias, alimentarias y nutricionales que favorecen la producción sostenible de alimentos e inciden en la salud: síntesis de revisiones sistemáticas
Subject
Sustainable Development; Sustainable Agriculture; Food and Nutrition Security; Public Health; Public Health; Review; Sustainable Development Goals; Desarrollo Sostenible; Agricultura Sostenible; Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutricional; Nutrición en Salud Pública; Revisión; Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible
Citation
Haby MM, Chapman E, Clark R, Galvão LAC. Agriculture, food, and nutrition interventions that facilitate sustainable food production and impact health: an overview of systematic reviews. Rev Panam Salud Publica. 2016;40(1):48–56.
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