Evolution of dietary structure and its living environment effect: A study in the agricultural area of “Yarlung Zangbo River and its two tributaries” on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Exploring the evolution of residents’ dietary structure and its effects on the living environment is significant for realizing the global sustainable goal. This study constructed a theoretical framework to explore the relationship between diet structure and living environment, took the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau region as the research object, analyzed the evolution characteristics of the dietary structure, and used the carbon emission coefficient method and the introduction of virtual water and virtual land concepts to investigate the living environment effects of dietary structure evolution. The results showed that from 2010 to 2018, the dietary structure of residents in the “Yarlung Zangbo River and its two tributaries” agricultural area on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau evolved from a plant-based diet to a diversified diet. The burden on the living environment gradually weakened with the dietary structure evolution. Compared to 2010, per capita food carbon emissions and water and land resources consumption decreased by 27.2%, 24.5%, and 15.8%, respectively. However, compared with the balanced diet model of the Chinese Dietary Guidelines 2022, the food carbon emissions in the study area increased significantly by 29.4%, land resource utilization increased by 2.5%, and water resource utilization gradually approached the critical value. Furthermore, we found that regions with high meat consumption put more burden on the living environment. Therefore, we suggest that encouraging residents to reduce meat consumption and optimize diet structure may be an effective way to achieve a sustainable living environment in the future. •A theoretical framework is built to analyze “food-diet-living environment” trilemma systematically.•Share of meat increases the burden of living environment and affects its sustainable development.•Dietary structure still aggravates negative effects such as climate change and resource depletion.