Contribution of meat-free days, meat-free meals, and portion sizes to UK meat consumption declines

BACKGROUND: In the UK, reduced meat consumption is needed to protect planetary health and reduce noncommunicable disease. An analysis of the UK's National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) found from 2008-2019, daily meat consumption per capita decreased from 103.7g to 86.3g (∼1.7% per annum). This trend is not fast enough to meet reduction targets, such as the National Food Strategy's goal of a 30% reduction by 2030. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to examine behaviours driving the reduction in meat consumption. Specifically, we investigated two key strategies: reduced consumption frequency and smaller portion sizes. Design: Using NDNS rolling programme (2008/09-2018/19) data, we evaluated changes in: 1) the number of meat-eating days, 2) the number of meat-containing meal occasions, and 3) the portion size of meat per meat-containing meal occasion using Poisson and linear regression models. Meat consumption was based on disaggregated data from 4-day food diaries. Using decomposition analysis, we estimated the proportion of responsibility for each consumption behaviour relative to the overall decrease in consumption. RESULTS: The mean number of meat-eating days decreased from 3.3 to 3.0 days (P < 0.001), the mean number of daily meat-containing meal occasions decreased from 1.2 to 1.1 occasions (P = 0.01), and the mean portion size of meat decreased from 85.8g to 76.1g (P < 0.001). Portion size contributed most to the reductions in meat consumption (57%), followed by meat-eating days (37%), and meat-containing meal occasions (6%). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest the decrease in UK meat consumption can be largely attributed to smaller portion sizes of meat. Understanding the nuances of meat consumption behaviours (i.e., “meat-free days” vs. “meat-free meals” vs. “low-meat meals”) could help tailor behaviour change interventions by showing the need for a focus on promoting low-meat meals to accelerate reductions in meat consumption toward population and environmental health goals. KEY MESSAGES: • The decrease in UK meat consumption is largely being driven by reductions in portion size of meat at meal occasions. • Understanding nuances of meat consumption behaviours can help tailor behaviour change interventions by showing the need for a focus on promoting low-meat meals to accelerate reduced meat consumption.