Introduction:

Dietary patterns play a critical role in both human health and environmental impact, as they influence personal well-being and environmental sustainability. In this context, the objectives of the study were: i) Evaluate the perception and actual diet quality among nutrition professionals in Argentina, ii) Assess the dietary diversity of these professionals, iii) Estimate the water footprint associated with their food consumption, and iv) Compare the dietary water footprint of the participants with the recommendations proposed by the dietary guidelines of Argentina and the EAT-Lancet Commission.

Methodology:

An observational, descriptive, quantitative and cross-sectional study was conducted, collecting information from 170 Nutrition graduates in Argentina through a self-administered online questionnaire. The data were analyzed descriptively, and an ANOVA was applied to determine the existence of significant differences (p<0.05) between the means of the dietary water footprint of the participants and the reference recommendations.

Results:

The 80% of the participants perceived their diet to be of good quality, although 70% of them needed to make changes in their eating habits (69.5 points). Likewise, the majority (80%) showed a medium dietary diversity (5.0 points). The average dietary water footprint was 4,408.6 L/person/day, significantly higher (p<0.05) than the recommendations suggested by the dietary guidelines and the EAT-Lancet Commission. The meat and egg group, along with the oils, seeds, and nuts group, were the main contributors to the daily water footprint.

Conclusions:

The participating professionals need to modify their dietary practices to improve the quality and variety of their diet and, at the same time, reduce their water footprint.

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