- Table 1 Most commonly reported meat-containing food items within the top five contributing sub food groups to meat consumption among children and young people aged 2 to 15 years living in Scotland, 2024 (% frequency among consumers).
- Table 2 Most commonly reported meat-containing food items within the 'Other beef and veal including homemade recipe dishes' sub food group contributing to meat consumption among children and young people aged 2 to 15 years living in Scotland, 2024 (% frequency among consumers)
- Table 3 Table 3. Most commonly reported meat-containing food items within the 'Sandwiches' sub food group contributing to meat consumption among children and young people aged 2 to 15 years living in Scotland, 2024 (% frequency among consumers)
- Table 4 Most commonly reported meat-containing food items within the 'Coated chicken and turkey manufactured' sub food group contributing to meat consumption among children and young people aged 2 to 15 years living in Scotland, 2024 (% frequency among consumers)
- Table 5 Most commonly reported meat-containing food items within the 'Other sausages including homemade recipe dishes' sub food group contributing to meat consumption among children and young people aged 2 to 15 years living in Scotland, 2024 (% frequency among consumers)
- Table 6 Summary of the percentage of the population below the LRNI for key nutrients among children and young people age 2 to 15 years living in Scotland at baseline (2024) and following a reduction in red and red processed meat to achieve a 35% reduction in “total meat” together with a 20% reduction in dairy and no replacement
- Table 7 Summary of percentage of the population below the LRNI for key nutrients among children and young people aged 2 to 15 years living in Scotland at baseline (2024) and following a reduction in red and red processed meat to achieve a 20% or 35% reduction in “total meat” together with a 20% reduction in dairy and no replacement
Key findings
- On any given day, 90% of children and young people in Scotland consume some type of meat and 99.6% consume some dairy. Meat and dairy are important sources nutrients including calcium, iodine, vitamin B12, selenium and zinc.
- Modelling completed by the University of Edinburgh showed that many population sub-groups are already at risk of low micronutrient intakes and these may be worsened by a reduction in meat and or/dairy intakes, particularly if these are not replaced with suitable alternatives.
- The modelling showed that it would be possible to mitigate some of the negative impacts of a shift away from meat and dairy on micronutrient intakes, with careful consideration of replacements, such as vegetables, oily fish, eggs, pulse and legumes and plant-based meat and dairy alternatives. However, these replacements cannot ensure existing insufficiencies do not worsen in some population sub-groups.
Further modelling was conducted to reduce total meat consumption, by reducing intakes of red and red processed meat among high consumers only:
- For those aged 2 to 4 years: consuming >33g/day
- For those aged 5 to 10 years: consuming >39g/day
- For those aged 11 to 15 years: consuming >54g/day
- Across all ages, reducing red and red processed meat consumption in high consumers to a maximum of 45g/day would achieve the CCC recommendation of a 20% reduction in all meat. This would affect 36% of children and young people in Scotland.
- Across all ages, reducing red and red processed meat consumption in high consumers to a maximum of 22g/day would achieve the CCC recommendation of a 35% reduction in all meat. This would affect 60% of children and young people in Scotland.
- Greenhouse gas emissions associated with diets of children and young people could be reduced by up to ~21-28% of baseline emissions by reducing red and red processed meat and by ~19-24% by reducing all meat in line with CCC recommendations. Significant reductions were observed across all replacement scenarios, whether meat and dairy were replaced with vegetables, eggs or plant-based alternatives.