Veröffentlichungen • The Germans’ diet – from single factors to a complex model
I. Hoffmann, I. Brunn, B. Cwik, E. Mertens1
Institute of Nutrition Science,
Giessen University, Germany
Vortrag auf 27th AGEV meeting, Karlsruhe 2005
Abstract
“The Germans eat too fatty, too salty, too sweet, too
much.” Statements like this are often based on nutrition
surveys comparing intake data on single food constituents to
recommendations or correlating them with blood
concentrations of nutrients or risk factors. However,
studying single aspects or a combination of few aspects of
such a complex theme like the Germans’ diet may lead to
formally and scientifically correct conclusions but still
provide a very restricted and biased view of reality.
National consumption studies are designed to depict a
nation’s nutrition and to provide a base for decision makers
and other professionals to implement changes of dietary
habits and to solve nutrition-related problems. Both
objectives necessitate taking into account the multitude of
interrelated aspects of nutrition influencing each other.
Neglecting the interrelatedness and multilayerness in the
process of problem-solving may result in further
disturbances caused by side-effects and in multiplying the
original issue - even when interventions had been planned
carefully. This means that the data of national consumption
studies should be used to capture diet as a whole instead of
solely its parts. This allows to deduct new and promising
problem-solving approaches.
Nutrition ecology is a rather new research area which may be
applied to consider the multilayerness and interrelatedness
of nutrition and nutrition-related problems. In the concept
of nutrition ecology nutrition is considered as a complex
system encompassing the dimensions health, environment,
society and economy.
The additional insights that may be gained by depicting the
Germans’ diet as a complex model instead of considering
single factors will be demonstrated by presenting the result
of a course within the Bachelor program for nutrition
(“Special aspects of nutrition ecology”) at the Institute of
Nutrition Science at the Giessen University.
1Further contributors: Grötsch, N., Heidenbluth,
K., Heller, R., Lamberts, V., Michels, I., Ndia Nimpa, J.,
Schreiber, N., Stang, K., Wittig, F., Schneider K., Meng B.
(participants and supervisers of the course “Special aspects
of nutrition ecology”)