What we eat has a tremendous impact on our health and well-being and bad dietary habits are a leading driver of death and disability worldwide. The Vita Score supports the goal of staying healthy by promoting a diet that minimizes food related disease risk such as cardiovascular disorders, diabetes and cancer.
The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) is the single largest and most detailed scientific effort ever conducted to quantify levels and trends in health. Led by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, it is truly a global effort, with over 12,000 researchers from more than 160 countries and territories participating in the most recent update. It identifies 87 behavioral, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks that lead to diseases. Through the assessment of more than 90'000 studies it approaches accurate numbers for disability adjusted life years (DALY) lost per 100'000 people dependent on age, gender and location for each individual risk factor. It provides new insights on the risks we should be concerned to improve our lives. Learn more
The Vita Score currently uses 8 non-overlapping dietary factors identified by the GBD study, namely whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, processed meat, red meat, milk and salt. Providing a guideline to follow a “minimum risk diet”, the Vita Score calculates how much of the recommendations are fulfilled in relation to the caloric content of a meal, weighted according to the severity of their outcomes. For example, lack of wholegrains in the German population is related to 83 years of life lost per 100’000 people, whereas eating too much salt is related to 29 years of life lost.
Foods with at least 20% less diet related risk points than all recorded meals and products earn the Vita Score Award. They have a 5 out of 5 heart rating.
The nutritional content of a meal or product to meet the daily nutrient recommendations can be analyzed separately or together with the Vita Score. The Nutrition Score analyzes per person and portion if the food is „well balanced“ in the sense that it provides you with all the daily energy requirements.
An average warm meal should provide about one-third of the recommended daily energy intake of 2,000 to 2,400 kcal. Nutrients that exceed this range will be clearly marked. This way, the nutritional content of a meal can be conveniently optimized toward the ideal proportion of proteins and fats. Risks from overeating are responsible for 50% of the DALYs lost due to obesity (the GBD value for a person in Germany is 531.95 DALYs).
Balanced menus with a good energy value receive the 5-star Nutrition Score. These menus do derive 10-35% of it’s calories from proteins and 20-35% from fat, while having a total energy value between 450 and 850 kcal.
Wow, I never knew that eating balanced was such a challenge! I just assumed that eating sustainable was the greater one. Only around 6% of all meals served in restaurants that we analyzed fulfilled the criteria of having a good energy content and the right proportional distribution of protein, fat and starch. Off course, this is only one perspective of judging the healthiness of a meal, but it is a pretty basic one. Moreover, it is commonly recommended and applied by health and food professionals. Our findings are in line with the Swiss menuCH study which showed that most Swiss eat unbalanced, eating especially too much meat and fat.
Read the full update.
In our report „Smart Chefs: health, climate and sustainability“ we summarize the findings on the conflicts and synergies between different environmental and health indicators. In short, reducing the carbon footprint of our diet also reduces the impact of important other environmental indicators, but potential conflicts exist with animal welfare, tropical deforestation and water scarcity.
Read the full update.
On 28 September 2017, we informed about our latest findings in the fields of climate protection, health and environmentally friendly agriculture in an interactive impulse event. At the event we were able to share our 2 greatest loves with you. What unites us at Eaternity is good food and solid data. We bring together two worlds that should not be separated: science and gastronomy.
Read the full update.
1/3 of greenhouse gases originate from the production and consumption of food. At the same time lifestyle illnesses like obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease are on the rise worldwide. Working with leading Swiss and international experts from institutions like Public Health Schweiz, The Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of Food and Barilla Food Centre, Eaternity aims to promote a culture in which health and sustainability are not in conflict.
Read the full update.
The CO₂ calculator of the Zurich start-up Eaternity determines the ecological footprint of over 5000 Swiss meals. In future, its evaluation will also include the effect of an organic and healthy diet. A large-scale project financed by the Engagement Migros development fund that is backed by the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) and other partners is making this expansion possible. It will provide a ground-breaking standard for especially healthy and sustainable meals.
Read the full update.The Vita Score is the result of the Health Footprint Project. Our aim was to create an indicator for meals that is deeply rooted in the newest and sound science. The indicator shows which meals are in line with the minimal risk diet to reduce the risk of diet related diseases.
As a consequence, Eaternity included the Vita Score as an indicator for healthiness of a meal into the Eaternity App to support the overall goal of eating healthy and climate friendly meals!
The results were reviewed by our scientific board of experts and partners. The project was made possible by the Engagement Fund Migros.
| Contributors to the project: | |
| Project organisation: | Aleksandra Aleksandrowicz, Eaternity – aaleksandrowicz@eaternity.ch Deputy: Judith Ellens, Eaternity – jellens@eaternity.ch Siewerdtstrasse 95, 8050 Zürich |
| Advisory board: |
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| Experts and stakeholders: |
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| Made possible by: | Engagement Migros development fund and the Global Burden of Disease Project |
