Global, regional, and national consumption of animal-source foods between 1990 and 2018: findings from the Global Dietary Database

Abstract

Background: Diet is a major modifiable risk factor for human health and overall consumption patterns affect planetary health. We aimed to quantify global, regional, and national consumption levels of animal-source foods (ASF) to inform intervention, surveillance, and policy priorities.

Methods: Individual-level dietary surveys across 185 countries conducted between 1990 and 2018 were identified, obtained, standardised, and assessed among children and adults, jointly stratified by age, sex, education level, and rural versus urban residence. We included 499 discrete surveys (91·2% nationally or subnationally representative) with data for ASF (unprocessed red meat, processed meat, eggs, seafood, milk, cheese, and yoghurt), comprising 3·8 million individuals from 134 countries representing 95·2% of the world population in 2018. We used Bayesian hierarchical models to account for differences in survey methods and representativeness, time trends, and input data and modelling uncertainty, with five-fold cross-validation.

Findings: In 2018, mean global intake per person of unprocessed red meat was 51 g/day (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 48-54; region-specific range 7-114 g/day); 17 countries (23·9% of the world's population) had mean intakes of at least one serving (100 g) per day. Global mean intake of processed meat was 17 g/day (95% UI 15-21 g/day; region-specific range 3-54 g/day); seafood, 28 g/day (27-30 g/day; 12-44 g/day); eggs, 21 g/day (18-24 g/day; 6-35 g/day); milk 88 g/day (84-93 g/day; 45-185 g/day); cheese, 8 g/day (8-10 g/day; 1-34 g/day); and yoghurt, 20 g/day (17-23 g/day; 7-84 g/day). Mean national intakes were at least one serving per day for processed meat (≥50 g/day) in countries representing 6·9% of the global population; for cheese (≥42 g/day) in 2·3%; for eggs (≥55 g/day) in 0·7%; for milk (≥245 g/day) in 0·3%; for seafood (≥100 g/day) in 0·8%; and for yoghurt (≥245 g/day) in less than 0·1%. Among the 25 most populous countries in 2018, total ASF intake was highest in Russia (5·8 servings per day), Germany (3·8 servings per day), and the UK (3·7 servings per day), and lowest in Tanzania (0·9 servings per day) and India (0·7 servings per day). Global and regional intakes of ASF were generally similar by sex. Compared with children, adults generally consumed more unprocessed red meat, seafood and cheese, and less milk; energy-adjusted intakes of other ASF were more similar. Globally, ASF intakes (servings per week) were higher among more-educated versus less-educated adults, with greatest global differences for milk (0·79), eggs (0·47), unprocessed red meat (0·42), cheese (0·28), seafood (0·28), yoghurt (0·22), and processed meat (0·21). This was also true for urban compared to rural areas, with largest global differences (servings per week) for unprocessed red meat (0·47), milk (0·38), and eggs (0·20). Between 1990 and 2018, global intakes (servings per week) increased for unprocessed red meat (1·20), eggs (1·18), milk (0·63), processed meat (0·50), seafood (0·44), and cheese (0·14).

Interpretation: Our estimates of ASF consumption identify populations with both lower and higher than optimal intakes. These estimates can inform the targeting of intervention, surveillance, and policy priorities relevant to both human and planetary health.

Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and American Heart Association.

Figure 1

National mean intake of unprocessed red meat (A) and processed meat (B) in 2018, all ages 17 (9%) of 185 countries consumed at least 100 g/day (equivalent to one serving per day) of unprocessed red meat, representing 1·8 billion people or 23·9% of the world population; 32 (17%) of 185 countries had intakes of at least 50 g/day (equivalent to one serving per day) of processed meat, representing 520 million people or 6·9% of the world population.

Figure 2

National mean intake of seafood (A) and egg (B) in 2018, all ages Only three (2%) of 185 countries consumed at least 100 g/day (equivalent to one serving per day) of seafood, representing 6·2 million people or 0·8% of the world population; five (3%) of 185 countries had intakes of at least 55 g/day (equivalent to one serving per day) of egg, representing 6·2 million people or 0·7% of the world population.

Figure 3

National mean intake of milk (A), cheese (B), and yoghurt (C) in 2018, all ages Only seven (4%) of 185 countries had intakes of at least 245 g/day (equivalent to one serving per day) of milk, representing 18·8 million people or 0·3% of the world population. 13 (7%) of 185 countries had intakes of at least 42 g/day (equivalent to one serving per day) of cheese, representing 173 million people or 2·3% of the world population. One (1%) of 185 countries had intakes of at least 245 g/day (equivalent to one serving per day) of yoghurt, representing 7 million people or 0·09% of the world population; 26 (14%) of 185 countries had intakes of at least 70 g/day (equivalent to 2 servings/week) of yogurt, representing 539 million people or 7·1% of the world population.

Figure 4

Mean global and regional consumption of animal-source foods (A) in 2018 and change in consumption between 1990 and 2018 (B) Positive values in part (B) indicate greater consumption in 2018 than 1900. One serving of unprocessed red meat=100 g; total processed meat=50 g; seafood=100 g; egg=55 g; cheese=42 g; yoghurt=245 g; milk=245 g. Uncertainty intervals for the absolute change in consumption between 1990 and 2018 are provided in the appendix (p 90).

Figure 5

Mean global and regional absolute animal-source food intake difference by education level (A) and place of residence in 2018 (B) Positive values in part (A) indicate greater consumption in high-education level individuals, and in part (B) indicate greater consumption in individuals in urban areas. One serving of unprocessed red meat=100 g; total processed meat=50 g; seafood=100 g; egg=55 g; cheese=42 g; yoghurt=245 g; milk=245 g. Uncertainty intervals for the absolute change in consumption between 1990 and 2018 are provided in the appendix (p 81). Absolute difference by education level was computed as the difference at the stratum-level and aggregated to the global and regional mean differences using weighted population proportions for low (<6 years) and high education levels (≥12 years) only (excludes education level between 6 years and <12 years).