METHODOLOGY
The Swiss Nutrition Atlas assesses the dietary intake of the Swiss population based on shopping data from supermarkets, online shops, out-of-home consumption and meal orders. The modelling hereby also takes into account expected food waste at the household level and corrects other methodological weaknesses.
DATABASE
The Swiss Nutrition Atlas is based on representative surveys of households from the three major language regions of Switzerland. In 2022, 371 households were surveyed, analyzing 12 tons of food with 15.5 million kilocalories. In the 2024 survey, the sample included 308 households that bought 8.5 tons of food with 11.5 million kilocalories within 14 days.
RESULTS
The results of the Swiss Nutrition Atlas provide reliable insights into the eating habits of the Swiss population. The estimated daily energy intake per capita per day for the adult population in 2024 is 2,278 kilocalories. Various findings show that too much saturated fatty acids, salt and added sugar are consumed. An analysis with regard to the Planetary Health Diet also shows an excessive consumption of animal products such as meat, dairy products and eggs.
ABOUT THE STUDY
The Swiss Nutrition Atlas is an initiative of the Institute of Retail Management at the University of St. Gallen (IRM-HSG) in collaboration with the University Clinic for Endocrinology, Diabetology, Nutritional Medicine and Metabolism of the Inselspital Bern. The overriding objective is to draw conclusions about the Swiss population’s diet based on shopping data. The Swiss Nutrition Atlas is our contribution to the public discourse on the nutrition of the Swiss population. With the project, we are especially trying to establish a new perspective on the critical subject of healthy nutrition.
As part of the Swiss National Science Foundation's open research data concept, the Swiss Nutrition Atlas database will be published in the website's “Downloads” section of this website.
The IRM-HSG furthermore strives for continuous repetition and scaling of the data collection. We depend on the support of politics, industry, trade and research to achieve this.
STUDY AUTHORS
Prof. Dr.
Marc Linzmajer
Professor of Service Management
Institute for Marketing & Service Research
the University of Rostock
Dr. Matthias
Eggenschwiler
Research Associate & PostDoc
Institute for Retail Management
University of St.Gallen
Prof. Dr. medical dr phil.
Lia Bally
Professor, Head of Nutritional Medicine, Metabolism and Obesity and Head of Research at the University Clinic for Diabetology, Endocrinology, Nutritional Medicine and Metabolism at Inselspital Bern.
Last modified: January 13, 2025