A UK study found that smaller portions are key to reducing meat intake

Reducing meat portions is the biggest influence on declining consumption in the UK, a study shows, highlighting the need for targeted strategies to achieve environmental and health benefits.

Study: Small portions of meat are the biggest contributor to reducing meat consumption in the UK. Image Credit: UlgenDes/Shutterstock.com

In a recent study published in Nature’s Foodresearchers from the United Kingdom used data from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey to examine different patterns in meat consumption to determine the dietary pattern that contributed most to a reduction in total meat intake.

The insights from the study could help shape effective dietary policies and create healthy but sustainable nutritional changes.

Background

Growing evidence from health and nutrition studies has shown that increased meat intake, especially processed meat and red meat, can significantly increase the risk of chronic illnesses such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and colorectal cancer.

In addition, meat production also has significant impacts on the environment as it leads to overuse of land and increases greenhouse gas emissions — the two main contributors to climate change.

In response to growing concerns about climate change and resource depletion, the UK’s Climate Change Committee recommended that meat consumption in the country be reduced by 20% by 2030 and by 50% by 2050.

Although national diet and nutrition surveys reported a gradual decrease in meat consumption from 2008 to 2019, studies report that more than one-third of the country’s adult population continues to eat more than the recommended amount of processed and red meat .

To further reduce red meat intake, it is essential to understand the behaviors that lead to meat consumption and to identify sustainable dietary changes and patterns of meat intake reduction.

About the study

The current study used publicly available data from the United Kingdom’s National Diet and Nutrition Survey, which is a cross-sectional rolling survey that tracks dietary and nutritional intake data across the country.

The survey also adjusted for sex and age and included data from random samples of private households. The researchers used data spanning 11 years from 2008-2009 to 2018-2019.

The data consisted of records of all food and drink consumed over four days, obtained from four-day food diaries that the participants had to keep. This information included portion sizes estimated using food labels or household measurements.

Since the survey included people over the age of 1.5 years, parents or carers helped children under the age of 12 to keep the diary.

The study examined specific patterns of meat consumption by focusing on changes in the frequency and amount of meat intakes. Meat categories included processed meat, red meat, white meat, and whole meat.

In addition, the researchers ensured that only the meat component of multi-ingredient dishes was included in the data, and for multi-meat dishes, portion size and frequency of consumption of each type of meat were separately estimated.

The researchers analyzed four main types of consumption behavior – the number of days that meat is eaten, the percentage of the population that eats meat, daily meat-eating occasions, and portion sizes during those occasions.

Variations in meat consumption across meal times were also captured and meat consumption was divided across the three meals of the day.

Various statistical analyzes were used to examine changing trends over time in meat consumption, and the contribution of each behavior to overall changes in meat consumption was also assessed.

Results

The researchers noted that overall meat consumption in the UK fell significantly in the 11 years between 2008 and 2019, with the decline mainly due to reductions in meat portion sizes, particularly for processed meat and red meat.

The changes varied based on demographic factors such as gender, age, and income levels, reflecting the complex changes in dietary behavior.

Daily meat consumption per person was 17.5 grams lower, with smaller portion sizes contributing to 51% of the reduction. In contrast, fewer meat-eating days contributed 24.4% to the overall reduction in meat consumption.

Although 17.3% of the reduction in total meat consumption was attributed to changes in the proportion of meat eaters in the population, fewer occasions of meat eating contributed only 6.5% to the total change.

However, the study found that there was a 2.7% increase in white meat consumption over this period. The researchers believe this may be due to perceptions that white meat is healthier, and the lower cost of white meat.

Gender-based changes were also observed in meat eating behaviors and patterns. It was found that meat intake decreased by smaller amounts for men, while women reduced the number of days and occasions they ate meat.

Furthermore, while individuals in the highest income groups reduced meat intake across all four types of behavior, the others only reduced portion sizes.

Conclusions

In conclusion, meat consumption patterns in the UK have shown that the trend towards smaller portions of red and processed meat is the strongest driver of overall reductions in meat intake in the country.

Although some gender and income-based changes were observed, the overall results showed the potential for policy interventions targeting portion sizes to benefit human health and the environment.