Aðalbygging
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On Monday, 16 November, Ragnhildur Guðmannsdóttir will defend her doctoral thesis in nutrition at the Faculty of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Iceland. The thesis is entitled: Evaluating Diets in Iceland: Diet Quality and Environmental Impacts in Population Surveys.
The opponents are Professor Anna-Karin Lindroos of Uppsala University, Sweden, and Professor Donald Rose of Tulane University, USA.
Professor Þórhallur Ingi Halldórsson served as principal supervisor. The doctoral committee also included Professor Bryndís Eva Birgisdóttir and Professor Ólöf Guðný Geirsdóttir, as well as Professor Ólafur Ögmundarson during the first part of the doctoral programme and Associate Professor Birna Þórisdóttir during the latter part.
The ceremony will be chaired by Hildur Inga Sveinsdóttir, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Food Science and Nutrition. It will take place in the Ceremonial Hall of the University of Iceland and begin at 9:00 a.m.
Abstract
The intersection of diets and environmental sustainability, carbon footprint, was studied, as well as infant nutrition and early-life air pollution exposure in Iceland.
This thesis utilized dietary data from the Icelandic National Dietary Survey, a comparable vegan survey, three children’s national surveys, and the Icelandic Maternal and Child Health Study (ICE-MCH). Dietary carbon footprint was estimated using LCA databases from Denmark, the United States, and France. Dietary recommendations adherence was assessed for food groups, nutrient -intake and ultra-processed food.
Adult carbon footprint remained consistent across databases. Red meat and dairy showed the highest impact among adults and children. Shifting toward official dietary recommendations significantly lowers the emissions. Vegans showed substantially lower carbon footprint and better macronutrient compliance than omnivores, though both derived nearly half their energy intake from ultra-processed food, with suboptimal intakes of vitamin D, calcium and iodine. Among children 6 years and older, discretionary foods ranked third in overall dietary carbon footprint. A case-crossover design investigated infant nutrition association with air pollution-induced asthma medication dispensing and showed odds of the medication to be influenced by breastfeeding and vitamin D. The results support the importance of nutrition for health and for reducing environmental influences.
About the Doctoral Candidate
Ragnhildur Guðmannsdóttir was born in Reykjavík in 1988. She completed a B.Sc. degree in nutrition at the Faculty of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Iceland, in 2017 and an M.Sc. degree in nutrition at the same university in 2020. Ragnhildur began her doctoral studies at the University of Iceland in 2021.
Ragnhildur’s parents are Þórhildur Svavarsdóttir, a preschool assistant, and Guðmann Hauksson, a carpenter. Ragnhildur lives in Copenhagen with her husband, Mathias S. Halfdaner, who is a director and technical manager, and their sons, Viktor Alexander Halfdaner and Markus Ari Halfdaner.
About events held at the University of Iceland
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