23 Aug Global ASF consumption trends
Diet is a major modifiable risk factor in human health and Animal Sourced Foods (ASF) are often an important, and sometimes sole, source of many bioavailable nutrients in the diet. In a recent article, authors of a paper in The Lancet Planetary Health Journal set out to identify the difference in ASF consumption by education level and location.
ASF are diverse, including fish, meat, dairy, eggs, and honey. SNi® research with the DELTA Model® has demonstrated the key role that specific ASF have in the supply of specific dietary nutrients, particularly calcium, A and B vitamins, and several minerals.
Many individuals consume little or no ASF, either by personal choice or circumstances of accessibility or availability. This review presented trends over 3 decades (ending 2018) and aimed to quantify consumption levels of ASF to inform policy and dietary intervention.
Evaluating 499 dietary surveys from around the world, researchers were able to provide estimates of global, regional and national consumption of ASF and identify populations with both lower and higher than optimal intakes.
The group found that globally, ASF intakes were higher for respondents with a higher education level, and also higher for those in urban areas compared to rural.
The country with the highest ASF consumption was Russia, with just over 5 servings per day, followed by Germany and the UK with just under 4 servings per day. The lowest consuming countries were India and Tanzania, with less than 1 serving per day. Milk was consumed in the greatest quantity (88g per day on average), followed by red meat (51 g per day).
The authors hope that these findings and their implications for human health inspire further research to pinpoint specific world regions and countries lacking well-conducted national surveys on individual-level intakes of ASF. Without this data, it is not possible to gain a good understanding of the bioavailable nutrients in individual diets, and the implications for nutrition.