Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Original Communication
  • Published:

Daily consumption of (red) meat or meat products in Switzerland: results of the 1992/93 Swiss Health Survey

Abstract

Objective: The present study aimed to examine the frequency of daily meat and meat product consumption and the preference for red meat in Switzerland.

Design: Cross-sectional Study.

Settings and subjects: Data were taken from the 1992/1993 Swiss Health Survey, which collected data on a random sample of persons aged 15 and over, living in Switzerland. The survey, which had a response rate of 71%, included 7930 male and 7358 female respondents. Bivariate analyses and multivariate logistic regressions controlling for sociodemographic and lifestyle factors were performed.

Results: Daily consumption of meat or meat products (25%) and more frequent consumption of red than white meat (26% of meat eaters) were prevalent in Switzerland. Men, middle-aged persons, participants with a low level of education, persons living in the German or Francophone regions of Switzerland, those with Swiss nationality, smokers, overweight and obese people, those with daily alcohol consumption and physically inactive persons were found to consume daily meat or meat products more frequently. A preference for red meat rather than white meat was more often observed in men, young people, persons living in the German or Francophone regions of Switzerland, smokers and participants who consumed alcohol at least once daily.

Conclusions: The analysis of data from the 1992/1993 Swiss Health Survey shows that in specific subgroups of the Swiss population meat and meat product consumption is still more frequent than recommended, but crude comparisons with older and more recent studies indicate a decrease in meat consumption. The observed clustering of daily meat consumption with other risk factors underscores the necessity to include dietary recommendations in health programs addressing other unhealthy lifestyles.

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2000) 54, 136–142

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

Guarantors: M Eichholzer and B Bisig.

Contributors: ME wrote the article and was involved in the data analysis; BB contributed to the initial study design and did the data analysis.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M Eichholzer.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Eichholzer, M., Bisig, B. Daily consumption of (red) meat or meat products in Switzerland: results of the 1992/93 Swiss Health Survey. Eur J Clin Nutr 54, 136–142 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1600907

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1600907

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links