Men in rich, gender-equal countries eat more meat than women

Men tend to eat meat more frequently than women. womena difference that increases in countries with higher equality levels gender, social development and economic development, according to a study published this Thursday in Scientific Reports.

The authors of the study, led by Christopher Hopwoodof the University of Zurich (Switzerland)attribute this difference to the fact that individuals in these countries have more opportunities to express their food preferences.

The team’s goal was to analyze differences in meat consumption between men and women in countries with different levels of social and economic development (measured by life expectancy, years of schooling, and gross national income).

They also took into account the country’s level of gender equality, measured by economic participation, education levels, political empowerment, health and survival.

To do the study, they used data from a survey conducted in 2021 of 20,802 participants from 23 countries in North and South America, Europe and Asia who had to declare their sex and the frequency with which they ate meat.

The authors found that, except for ChinaIndia and Indonesia, men tended to eat meat more often than women.

Differences in meat consumption in both sexes tended to be greater in countries with higher levels of gender equality and social and economic development, with greater differences in Germany, Argentina, Poland and United Kingdom.

They also found that men and women from countries with higher levels of gender equality and social and economic development tended to eat meat more frequently than those from countries with lower levels of income.

Total meat consumption was higher in Thailand, China, USA and Spain.

Reduce meat consumption

The team believes that higher levels of gender equality and development may provide women with greater freedom to choose to eat meat less frequently and may also allow men to purchase and eat meat more frequently.

The results also indicate that different strategies to encourage reductions in meat consumption may be necessary in countries with different levels of social and economic development to reduce the environmental impact of agriculture.

Thus, researchers maintain that offering consumers more opportunities to consume alternatives to plant-based meat or cultured (laboratory) meat may be more effective in countries with higher levels of development.

In parallel, encouraging the production of alternatives to meat of plant origin or cultured meat may be more effective in countries with lower levels of development, the study concludes.

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