Exploring healthy and climate-friendly diets for Danish adults: an optimization study using quadratic programming.

Background: A transition to healthy and sustainable diets has the potential to improve human and planetary health but diets need to meet requirements for nutritional adequacy, health, environmental targets, and be acceptable to consumers. Objective: The objective of this study was to derive a nutritionally adequate and healthy diet that has the least deviation possible from the average observed diet of Danish adults while aiming for a greenhouse gas emission (GHGE) reduction of 31%, corresponding to the GHGE level of the Danish plant-rich diet, which lays the foundation for the current healthy and sustainable food-based dietary guidelines (FBDGs) in Denmark. Methods: With an objective function minimizing the departure from the average observed diet of Danish adults, four diet optimizations were run using quadratic programming, with different combinations of diet constraints: (1) nutrients only (Nutri), (2) nutrients and health-based targets for food amounts (NutriHealth), (3) GHGE only (GHGE), and finally, (4) combined nutrient, health and GHGE constraints (NutriHealthGHGE). Results: The GHGE of the four optimized diets were 3.93 kg CO2-eq (Nutri), 3.77 kg CO2-eq (NutriHealth) and 3.01 kg CO2-eq (GHGE and NutriHealthGHGE), compared to 4.37 kg CO2-eq in the observed diet. The proportion of energy from animal-based foods was 21%-25% in the optimized diets compared to 34% in the observed diet and 18% in the Danish plant-rich diet. Moreover, compared to the average Danish diet, the NutriHealthGHGE diet contained more grains and starches (44 E% vs. 28 E%), nuts (+230%), fatty fish (+89%), eggs (+47%); less cheese (-73%), animal-based fats (-76%), total meat (-42%); and very limited amounts of ruminant meat, soft drinks, and alcoholic beverages (all-90%), while the amounts of legumes and seeds were unchanged. On average, the mathematically optimized NutriHealthGHGE diet showed a smaller deviation from the average Danish diet compared to the Danish plant-rich diet (38% vs. 169%, respectively). Conclusion: The final optimized diet presented in this study represents an alternative way of composing a nutritionally adequate and healthy diet that has the same estimated GHGE as a diet consistent with the climate-friendly FBDGs in Denmark. As this optimized diet may be more acceptable for some consumers, it might help to facilitate the transition toward more healthy and sustainable diets in the Danish population.

Different Levels of Ultraprocessed Food and Beverage Consumption and Associations with Environmental Sustainability and All-cause Mortality in EPIC-NL.

BACKGROUND: The adverse health effects of high ultraprocessed food and drink (UPFD) consumption are well documented. However, the environmental impact remains unclear, and the separate effects of ultraprocessed foods (UPFs) and drinks (UPDs) on all-cause mortality have not been studied previously. OBJECTIVES: To assess the association between levels of UPFD, UPF, and UPD consumption and diet-related environmental impacts and all-cause mortality in Dutch adults. METHODS: Habitual diets were assessed by a Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) from 1993-1997 in 38,261 participants of the Dutch European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort. The mean follow-up time was 18.2 y (SD = 4.1); 4,697 deaths occurred. FFQ items were categorized according to the NOVA classification. Associations between quartiles of UPFD, UPF, and UPD consumption and environmental impact indicators were analyzed using general linear models and all-cause mortality by Cox proportional hazard models. The lowest UPFD, UPF, and UPD consumption quartiles were used as comparator. RESULTS: The average UPFD consumption was 181 (SD = 88) g/1000 kcal. High UPF consumption was statistically significantly inversely associated with all environmental impact indicators (Q4vsQ1: -13.6% to -3.0%), whereas high UPD consumption was, except for land use, statistically significant positively associated with all environmental impact indicators (Q4vsQ1: 1.2% to 5.9%). High UPFD consumption was heterogeneously associated with environmental impacts (Q4vsQ1: -4.0% to 2.6%). After multivariable adjustment, the highest quartiles of UPFD and UPD consumption were significantly associated with all-cause mortality (HRQ4vsQ1: 1.17, 95%CI: 1.08, 1.28 and HRQ4vsQ1: 1.16, 95%CI: 1.07, 1.26, respectively). UPF consumption of Q2 and Q3 were associated with a borderline significant lower risk of all-cause mortality (HRQ2vsQ1: 0.93, 95% CI: 0.85, 1.00; HRQ3vsQ1: 0.91, 95% CI: 0.84, 0.99) whereas Q4 was not statistically significant (HRQ4vsQ1: 1.06, 95% CI: 0.97, 1.15). CONCLUSIONS: Reducing UPD consumption may lower environmental impact and all-cause mortality risk; however, this is not shown for UPFs. When categorizing food consumption by their degree of processing, trade-offs are observed for human and planetary health aspects.

Shifting towards optimized healthy and sustainable Dutch diets: impact on protein quality.

PURPOSE: To reduce the environmental impact of Western diets, a reduction of meat consumption and a substitution by plant-based protein sources is needed. This protein transition will affect the quantity and quality of dietary protein. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the protein adequacy of diets optimized for nutritional health and diet-related greenhouse gas emission (GHGE). METHODS: Data from 2150 adult participants of the Dutch National Food Consumption Survey were used, with diet assessed using two non-consecutive 24 h dietary recalls. Utilizable protein of current diets per day was based on meal composition and the Protein Digestibility-Corrected Amino Acid Score and was compared to protein requirements. Optimized diets were derived as linear combinations of current diets that minimized GHGE and maximized the Dutch Healthy Diet 2015 score, with/without constraints to keep dietary change within 33% of current consumption. Protein adequacy was evaluated in both current and optimized diets. RESULTS: In all age and gender strata, the healthiest diets had higher GHGE, the most sustainable diets had the lowest dietary quality, though higher than current diets, and protein adequacy remained sufficient. When limiting dietary change to 33% of current consumption, in the most promising trade-off diet GHGE was reduced by 12-16%. The current diet provided 1.4-2.2 times the required amount of utilizable protein. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that a realistic aim for the next decade might be to reduce diet-related GHGE to 12-16% of the current levels without compromising protein adequacy and diet quality. To achieve global targets, upstream food system transformations are needed with subsequent dietary changes.

Toward Systems Models for Obesity Prevention: A Big Role for Big Data.

The relation among the various causal factors of obesity is not well understood, and there remains a lack of viable data to advance integrated, systems models of its etiology. The collection of big data has begun to allow the exploration of causal associations between behavior, built environment, and obesity-relevant health outcomes. Here, the traditional epidemiologic and emerging big data approaches used in obesity research are compared, describing the research questions, needs, and outcomes of 3 broad research domains: eating behavior, social food environments, and the built environment. Taking tangible steps at the intersection of these domains, the recent European Union project "BigO: Big data against childhood obesity" used a mobile health tool to link objective measurements of health, physical activity, and the built environment. BigO provided learning on the limitations of big data, such as privacy concerns, study sampling, and the balancing of epidemiologic domain expertise with the required technical expertise. Adopting big data approaches will facilitate the exploitation of data concerning obesity-relevant behaviors of a greater variety, which are also processed at speed, facilitated by mobile-based data collection and monitoring systems, citizen science, and artificial intelligence. These approaches will allow the field to expand from causal inference to more complex, systems-level predictive models, stimulating ambitious and effective policy interventions.

Evaluation of foods, drinks and diets in the Netherlands according to the degree of processing for nutritional quality, environmental impact and food costs.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigates nutritional quality, environmental impact and costs of foods and drinks and their consumption in daily diets according to the degree of processing across the Dutch population. DESIGN: The NOVA classification was used to classify the degree of processing (ultra-processed foods (UPF) and ultra-processed drinks (UPD)). Food consumption data were derived from the Dutch National Food Consumption Survey 2012-2016. Indicators assessed were nutritional quality (saturated fatty acids (SFA), sodium, mono and disaccharides (sugar), fibre and protein), environmental impact (greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and blue water use) and food costs. SETTING: The Netherlands. PARTICIPANTS: Four thousand three hundred thirteen Dutch participants aged 1 to 79 years. RESULTS: Per 100 g, UPF were more energy-dense and less healthy than unprocessed or minimally processed foods (MPF); UPF were associated with higher GHG emissions and lower blue water use, and were cheaper. The energy and sugar content of UPD were similar to those of unprocessed or minimally processed drinks (MPD); associated with similar GHG emissions but blue water use was less, and they were also more expensive. In the average Dutch diet, per 2000 kcal, ultra-processed foods and drinks (UPFD) covered 29% (456 g UPF and 437 g UPD) of daily consumption and 61% of energy intake. UPFD consumption was higher among children than adults, especially for UPD. UPFD consumption determined 45% of GHG emissions, 23% of blue water use and 39% of expenses for daily food consumption. UPFD consumption contributed 54% to 72% to daily sodium, sugar and SFA intake. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with unprocessed or minimally processed foods and drinks, UPF and UPD were found to be less healthy considering their high energy, SFA, sugar and sodium content. However, UPF were associated higher GHG emissions and with less blue water use and food costs. Therefore daily blue water use and food costs might increase if UPF are replaced by those unprocessed or minimally processed. As nutritional quality, environmental impacts and food costs relate differently to the NOVA classification, the classification is not directly applicable to identify win-win-wins of nutritional quality, environmental impact and costs of diets.

Environmental footprints of Chinese foods and beverages: Literature-based construction of a LCA database.

To accurately estimate and model the impact of food consumption and potential dietary changes on environment and climate change, the need for country specific data is evident. This study developed a Chinese Food Life Cycle Assessment Database (CFLCAD) in which Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHGE) for 80 food items, Water Use (WU) for 93 food items and Land Use (LU) for 50 food items were collected through a literature review. To estimate the environmental footprints of food from production to consumption, the study applied conversion factors for the edible portion of food, food loss ratio and processing, storage, packaging, transportation, and food preparation stages. In addition, when no LCA data of a certain food was available, data from food groups with similar nutritional composition or cultivation condition were used as proxies. The database covered 17 food groups and each food item was referenced to the Chinese Food Composition Table and has a unique food code. The CFLCAD can be used to link individual-level food consumption data with nutrition survey in China, to allow for a more accurate estimation of the environmental footprints of Chinese diets.

Exploring culturally acceptable, nutritious, affordable and low climatic impact diet for Japanese diets: proof of concept of applying a new modelling approach using data envelopment analysis.

A future sustainable dietary pattern for Japanese is yet undefined. This study aimed to explore more sustainable Japanese diets that are nutritious, affordable and with low greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) and particular emphasis on cultural acceptability. A newly developed data envelopment analysis (DEA) diet model was applied to 4-d dietary record data among 184 healthy Japanese men and 185 women volunteers aged 21-69 years. Alternative diets were calculated as the linear combinations of observed diets. Firstly, for each individual, four modelled diets were calculated that maximised cultural acceptability (i.e. minimise dietary change from observed diet), maximised nutritional quality assessed by the Nutrient-Rich Food Index (NRF), minimised monetary diet costs or minimised diet-related GHGE. The final modelled diet combined all four indicators. In the first four models, the largest improvement was obtained for each targeted indicator separately, while relatively small improvements or unwanted changes were observed for other indicator. When all indicators were aimed to optimise, the NRF score and diet-related GHGE were improved by 8-13 % with the lower monetary cost than observed diets, although the percentage improvement was a bit smaller than the separate models. The final modelled diets demanded increased intakes for whole grains, fruits, milk/cream/yogurt, legumes/nuts, and decreased intakes for red and processed meat, sugar/confectioneries, alcoholic and sweetened beverages, and seasonings in both sexes. In conclusion, more sustainable dietary patterns considering several indicators are possible for Japanese, while total improvement is moderate due to trade-offs between indicators and methodological limitation of DEA diet model.

Perspective: Striking a Balance between Planetary and Human Health-Is There a Path Forward?

The global adoption of predominantly plant-based, sustainable, healthy diets will help reduce the risk of obesity- and malnutrition-related noncommunicable diseases while protecting the future health of our planet. This review examines the benefits and limitations of different types of plant-based diets in terms of health and nutrition, affordability and accessibility, cultural (ethical and religious) acceptability, and the environment (i.e., the 4 pillars underlying sustainable healthy diets). Results suggest that, without professional supervision, traditional plant-based diets (vegan, vegetarian, and pescatarian diets) can increase the risk of nutritional deficiencies among infants, children/adolescents, women, pregnant/lactating women, and the elderly. In contrast, flexitarian diets and territorial diversified diets (TDDs; e.g., Mediterranean and New Nordic diets) that include large quantities of plant-sourced foods, low amounts of red meat, and moderate amounts of poultry, fish, eggs, and dairy can meet the energy and nutrition needs of different populations without the need for dietary education or supplementation. Compared with vegan, vegetarian, and pescatarian diets, more diverse flexitarian diets and TDDs are associated with reduced volumes of food waste and may be more acceptable and easier to maintain for people who previously followed Western diets. Although flexitarian diets and TDDs have a greater impact on the environment than vegan, vegetarian, and pescatarian diets, the negative effects are considerably reduced compared with Western diets, especially if diets include locally sourced seasonal foods. Further studies are required to define more precisely optimal sustainable healthy diets for different populations and to ensure that diets are affordable and accessible to people in all countries.

Replacement of Meat with Non-Meat Protein Sources: A Review of the Drivers and Inhibitors in Developed Countries.

The overconsumption of meat has been charged with contributing to poor health and environmental degradation. Replacing meat with non-meat protein sources is one strategy advocated to reduce meat intake. This narrative review aims to identify the drivers and inhibitors underlying replacing meat with non-meat protein sources in omnivores and flexitarians in developed countries. A systematic search was conducted in Scopus and Web of Science until April 2021. In total, twenty-three studies were included in this review examining personal, socio-cultural, and external factors. Factors including female gender, information on health and the environment, and lower price may act as drivers to replacing meat with non-meat protein sources. Factors including male gender, meat attachment, food neophobia, and lower situational appropriateness of consuming non-meat protein sources may act as inhibitors. Research is needed to establish the relevance of socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, religion, health status, food environment, and cooking skills. Future studies should prioritize standardizing the definitions of meat and non-meat protein replacements and examining factors across different consumer segments and types of non-meat protein sources. Thereby, the factors determining the replacement of meat with non-meat protein sources can be better elucidated, thus, facilitating the transition to a healthier and more sustainable diet.

Responsible Governance for a Food and Nutrition E-Infrastructure: Case Study of the Determinants and Intake Data Platform.

The focus of the current paper is on a design of responsible governance of food consumer science e-infrastructure using the case study Determinants and Intake Data Platform (DI Data Platform). One of the key challenges for implementation of the DI Data Platform is how to develop responsible governance that observes the ethical and legal frameworks of big data research and innovation, whilst simultaneously capitalizing on huge opportunities offered by open science and the use of big data in food consumer science research. We address this challenge with a specific focus on four key governance considerations: data type and technology; data ownership and intellectual property; data privacy and security; and institutional arrangements for ethical governance. The paper concludes with a set of responsible research governance principles that can inform the implementation of DI Data Platform, and in particular: consider both individual and group privacy; monitor the power and control (e.g., between the scientist and the research participant) in the process of research; question the veracity of new knowledge based on big data analytics; understand the diverse interpretations of scientists' responsibility across different jurisdictions.

Low Meat Consumption in the Netherlands Is Associated With Higher Intake of Fish, Nuts, Seeds, Cheese, Sweets, and Snacks: Results From a Two-Part Model.

Studies on sustainable diets show a need for replacement of animal-based foods by plant-based foods, which is also called "the protein transition." To gain insight into the acceptability of such diet shifts, this study evaluated which current food sources people consume at varying amounts of meat consumption. The study population consisted of 4,313 participants aged 1-79 years of the Dutch National Food Consumption Survey 2012-2016, which assessed diet using two nonconsecutive 24-h dietary recalls. A two-part statistical model was used that accounts for both repeated measures and the correlation between probability and amount of consumption. Results are presented for quartiles of low to high meat consumption, by age and sex. Depending on age and sex, a higher consumption of fish (>100%), nuts and seeds (73-156%), cheese (34-111%), and sweets and snacks (28-81%) is observed in the lowest quartile of meat consumption compared to the highest. For fish, nuts, seeds, and cheese, this increase is mainly due to probability of consumption (>100%, 61-93%, and 16-64%, respectively). For sweets and snacks, the increase is mainly due to the amount of consumption (26-72%). Probability of potato consumption is 29-51% lower at low meat consumption. Vegetable consumption is lower mainly due to amount of consumption (6-29%). The results from the two-part model suggest that shifting away from a traditional Dutch high meat-vegetable-potatoes pattern is associated with higher probability of consuming fish, nuts and seeds, and cheese, but also increased amounts of sweets and snacks. This illustrates that analyzing the probability and amount part separately in relation to behavioral or physiological determinants extends our understanding of the diet according to meat consumption. These insights are important when developing realistic and acceptable food-based dietary guidelines for meat reduction.

Improving health and carbon footprints of European diets using a benchmarking approach.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to identify diets with improved nutrient quality and environmental impact within the boundaries of dietary practices. DESIGN: We used Data Envelopment Analysis to benchmark diets for improved adherence to food-based dietary guidelines (FBDG). We then optimised these diets for dietary preferences, nutrient quality and environmental impact. Diets were evaluated using the Nutrient Rich Diet score (NRD15.3), diet-related greenhouse gas emission (GHGE) and a diet similarity index that quantified the proportion of food intake that remained similar as compared with the observed diet. SETTING: National dietary surveys of four European countries (Denmark, Czech Republic, Italy and France). SUBJECTS: Approximately 6500 adults, aged 18-64 years. RESULTS: When dietary preferences were prioritised, NRD15·3 was ~6 % higher, GHGE was ~4 % lower and ~85 % of food intake remained similar. This diet had higher amounts of fruit, vegetables and whole grains than the observed diet. When nutrient quality was prioritised, NRD15·3 was ~16 % higher, GHGE was ~3 % lower and ~72 % of food intake remained similar. This diet had higher amounts of legumes and fish and lower amounts of sweetened and alcoholic beverages. Finally, when environmental impact was prioritised, NRD15·3 was ~9 % higher, GHGE was ~21 % lower and ~73 % of food intake remained similar. In this diet, red and processed meat partly shifted to either eggs, poultry, fish or dairy. CONCLUSIONS: Benchmark modelling can generate diets with improved adherence to FBDG within the boundaries of dietary practices, but fully maximising health and minimising GHGE cannot be achieved simultaneously.

Future-proof and sustainable healthy diets based on current eating patterns in the Netherlands.

BACKGROUND: To keep global warming <1.5°C as recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), eating patterns must change. However, future diets should be modeled at a national level and respect cultural acceptability. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to identify diets among Dutch adults satisfying nutritional and selected environmental requirements while deviating minimally from the baseline diet among Dutch adults. METHODS: We calculated per capita food system greenhouse gas emission (GHGE) targets derived from the IPCC 1.5-degree assessment study. Using individual adult dietary intake from the National Food Consumption Survey in the Netherlands (2007-2010) to form a baseline, we used quadratic optimization to generate diets that followed the baseline Dutch diet as closely as possible, while satisfying nutritional goals and remaining below GHGE targets. We considered 12 scenarios in which we varied GHGE targets [2050: 1.11 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent (kg CO2-eq) per person per day (pppd); 2030: 2.04 kg CO2-eq pppd; less strict 2030: 2.5 kg CO2-eq pppd; no target], modeled eating patterns (food-based dietary guidelines; flexitarian; pescatarian; lacto-ovo-vegetarian; vegan), and conducted exploratory analyses (food diversity; acceptability; food chain interdependency). RESULTS: Optimized solutions for 2030 required major decreases (<33% of baseline values) in consumption of beef, pork, cheese, snacks, and butter and increased consumption (>150% of baseline values) of legumes, fish and shellfish, peanuts, tree nuts, vegetables, soy foods, and soy drink. Eight food groups were within 33%-150% of the baseline diet among Dutch adults. The optimized solution complying to the lowest GHGE target (2050) lacked food diversity, and the (lacto-ovo) vegetarian and vegan optimized diets were prone to nutritional inadequacies. CONCLUSIONS: Within Dutch eating habits, satisfying optimization constraints required a shift away from beef, cheese, butter, and snacks toward plant-based foods and fish and shellfish, questioning acceptability. Satisfying 2050 food system GHGE targets will require research in consumer preferences and breakthrough innovations in food production and processing.

Is nutrition science ready for the twenty-first century? Moving towards transdisciplinary impacts in a changing world.

Malnutrition in an obese world was the fitting title of the 13th Federation of European Nutrition Societies (FENS) conference held in October 2019. Many individuals do not eat a healthy, well-balanced diet, and this is now understood to be a major driver of increased disease risk and illness. Moreover, both our current eating patterns and the food system as a whole are environmentally unsustainable, threatening the planetary systems we depend on for survival. As we attempt to feed a growing global population, food systems will increasingly be confronted with their environmental impacts, with the added challenge of climate change-induced threats to food production. As we move into the third decade of the twenty-first century, these challenges demand that the nutrition research community reconsider its scope, concepts, methods, and societal role. At a pre-meeting workshop held at the FENS conference, over 70 researchers active in the field explored ways to advance the discipline's capacity to address cross-cutting issues of personal, public and planetary health. Using the world cafe method, four themed discussion tables explored (a) the breadth of scientific domains needed to meet the current challenges, (b) the nature and definition of the shifting concepts in nutrition sciences, (c) the next-generation methods required and (d) communication and organisational challenges and opportunities. As a follow-up to earlier work [1], here we report the highlights of the discussions, and propose the next steps to advance responsible research and innovation in the domain of nutritional science.

Designing healthier and acceptable diets using data envelopment analysis.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this research is to propose methodology that can be used to benchmark current diets based on their nutrient intakes and to provide guidelines for improving less healthy diets in a way that is acceptable for the studied population. DESIGN: We discuss important limitations of current diet models that use optimisation techniques to design healthier and acceptable diets. We illustrate how data envelopment analysis could be used to overcome such limitations, and we describe mathematical models that can be used to calculate not only healthier but also acceptable diets. SETTING: We used data from the Nutrition Questionnaires plus dataset of habitual diets of a general population of adult men and women in The Netherlands (n 1735). PARTICIPANTS: Adult population. RESULTS: We calculated healthier diets with substantial higher intakes of protein, fibre, Fe, Ca, K, Mg and vitamins, and substantially lower intakes of Na, saturated fats and added sugars. The calculated diets are combinations of current diets of individuals that belong to the same age/gender group and comprise of food item intakes in proportions observed in the sample. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed methodology enables the benchmarking of existing diets and provides a framework for proposing healthier alternative diets that resemble the current diet in terms of foods intake as much as possible.

SHARP-Indicators Database towards a public database for environmental sustainability.

To initiate the achievement of an European-wide applicable public database for indicators of environmental sustainability of the diet, we developed the SHARP Indicators Database (SHARP-ID). A comprehensive description of the development of the SHARP-ID is provided in this article. In the SHARP-ID, environmental impact assessment was based on attributional life cycle analyses using environmental indicators greenhouse gas emission (GHGE) and land use (LU). Life cycle inventory data of 182 primary products were combined with data on production, trade and transport, and adjusted for consumption amount using conversions factors for production, edible portion, cooking losses and gains, and for food losses and waste in order to derive estimates of GHGE and LU for the foods as eaten. Extrapolations based on similarities in type of food, production system and ingredient composition were made to obtain estimates of GHGE and LU per kg of food as eaten for 944 food items coded with a unique FoodEx2-code of EFSA and consumed in four European countries, i.e. Denmark, Czech Republic, Italy and France. This LCA-food-item database can be linked to food intake data collected at the individual level in order to calculate the environmental impact of individual's diets. The application of this database to European survey data is described in an original research article entitled "Dietary choices and environmental impact in four European countries" (Mertens et al., 2019).

The Role of Self-Control and the Presence of Enactment Models on Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption: A Pilot Study.

The objective of the present research was to investigate associations of dispositional and momentary self-control and the presence of other individuals consuming SSBs with the consumption frequency of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) in a multi-country pilot study. We conducted an Ambulatory Assessment in which 75 university students (52 females) from four study sites carried smartphones and received prompts six times a day in their everyday environments to capture information regarding momentary self-control and the presence of other individuals consuming SSBs. Multilevel models revealed a statistically significant negative association between dispositional self-control and SSB consumption. Moreover, having more self-control than usual was only beneficial in regard to lower SSB consumption frequency, when other individuals consuming SSBs were not present but not when they were present. The findings support the hypothesis that self-control is an important factor regarding SSB consumption. This early evidence highlights self-control as a candidate to design interventions to promote healthier drinking through improved self-control.