Quantifying the health impact of crop breeding: Revisiting the Disability-Adjusted Life Years Approach

Crop breeding, through methods like biofortification, plays a crucial role in increasing agricultural yields, contributing to a stable and healthy food supply by boosting the micronutrient content of staples, which is pivotal for combating chronic and hidden hunger, especially in rural areas. This s...

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Main Author: Lenaerts, Bert
Format: Preprint
Language:Inglés
Published: MedRxiv 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/169845
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author Lenaerts, Bert
author_browse Lenaerts, Bert
author_facet Lenaerts, Bert
author_sort Lenaerts, Bert
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Crop breeding, through methods like biofortification, plays a crucial role in increasing agricultural yields, contributing to a stable and healthy food supply by boosting the micronutrient content of staples, which is pivotal for combating chronic and hidden hunger, especially in rural areas. This shift towards improved nutrition can be sustainably integrated into regular diets, marking a significant stride in public health. The burden of hunger and its consequences on health are increasingly quantified using the Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) approach, which merges years of life lost and years lived with disability, offering a comprehensive view of health impacts and aiding in resource allocation despite its complexity and subjective nature. A practical formula for quantifying the health impact of biofortification was introduced by Stein et al. (2005) and Zimmermann and Qaim (2004). This entails calculating the efficacy or relative reduction in hunger burden based on the current and post-intervention nutrient intake against the recommended dietary allowances. As data on consumption and recommended intake levels are variable and not readily available, this paper proposes relying on relative estimates to bridge the data gaps and uncertainties, thus streamlining the quantification of crop breeding's impact on diets and overall health.
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spelling CGSpace1698452025-03-11T09:50:20Z Quantifying the health impact of crop breeding: Revisiting the Disability-Adjusted Life Years Approach Lenaerts, Bert market intelligence biofortification Crop breeding, through methods like biofortification, plays a crucial role in increasing agricultural yields, contributing to a stable and healthy food supply by boosting the micronutrient content of staples, which is pivotal for combating chronic and hidden hunger, especially in rural areas. This shift towards improved nutrition can be sustainably integrated into regular diets, marking a significant stride in public health. The burden of hunger and its consequences on health are increasingly quantified using the Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) approach, which merges years of life lost and years lived with disability, offering a comprehensive view of health impacts and aiding in resource allocation despite its complexity and subjective nature. A practical formula for quantifying the health impact of biofortification was introduced by Stein et al. (2005) and Zimmermann and Qaim (2004). This entails calculating the efficacy or relative reduction in hunger burden based on the current and post-intervention nutrient intake against the recommended dietary allowances. As data on consumption and recommended intake levels are variable and not readily available, this paper proposes relying on relative estimates to bridge the data gaps and uncertainties, thus streamlining the quantification of crop breeding's impact on diets and overall health. 2024-08-26 2025-01-24T14:39:05Z 2025-01-24T14:39:05Z Preprint https://hdl.handle.net/10568/169845 en Open Access MedRxiv Lenaerts, B. (2024). Quantifying the health impact of crop breeding: Revisiting the Disability-Adjusted Life Years Approach. medRxiv, 2024-08.
spellingShingle market intelligence
biofortification
Lenaerts, Bert
Quantifying the health impact of crop breeding: Revisiting the Disability-Adjusted Life Years Approach
title Quantifying the health impact of crop breeding: Revisiting the Disability-Adjusted Life Years Approach
title_full Quantifying the health impact of crop breeding: Revisiting the Disability-Adjusted Life Years Approach
title_fullStr Quantifying the health impact of crop breeding: Revisiting the Disability-Adjusted Life Years Approach
title_full_unstemmed Quantifying the health impact of crop breeding: Revisiting the Disability-Adjusted Life Years Approach
title_short Quantifying the health impact of crop breeding: Revisiting the Disability-Adjusted Life Years Approach
title_sort quantifying the health impact of crop breeding revisiting the disability adjusted life years approach
topic market intelligence
biofortification
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/169845
work_keys_str_mv AT lenaertsbert quantifyingthehealthimpactofcropbreedingrevisitingthedisabilityadjustedlifeyearsapproach