CYPRIOTS eat an average of 110 kilos of meat per year, far exceeding recommended allowances and increasing the risk of developing potentially life-threatening conditions, experts warned yesterday.
In addition to large quantities of meat, Cypriots on average also consume 105 litres of pasteurised milk and 17 kilos of cheese per year.
The statistics were confirmed by the Veterinary Services and the Cyprus Milk Industry Organisation.
“On average, Cypriots consume 110 kilos of red and white meat per year, and that’s after removing tourists from the equation,” a veterinary service official said.
“If you consider that is the national average, then that means some people are eating well above that amount, which is an unhealthy amount of meat to be consuming.”
Dietetic Association president Eleni Andreou agreed with the figures.
“The quantities [of meat] far exceed recommended allowances, demonstrating a minimum of 20 per cent of people’s diets are made up of protein, which is too much,” she said.
“Daily calorie intake should be made up of 55 per cent carbohydrates, 12 to 15 per cent protein and 30 per cent fat, which should only include eight per cent saturated (animal) fat. Unfortunately in Cyprus, and in other developed countries, daily fat consumption is as high as 40 per cent, protein consumption averages at 20 per cent and carbohydrate consumption is reduced to 40 per cent.”
The clinical dietician blamed a change in eating habits for the shift.
People tended to eat fewer pulses, fruit and vegetables, and replaced them with more meat, she said.
“The meat consumed also tends to be high in saturated fat, such as beef, fatty meats and offal, instead of white meat such as chicken or fish.”
Andreou said although meat was a good source of protein and phosphorus, too much of it could lead to high cholesterol, hypertension, circulatory problems, as well as some types of cancer, and eventually obesity. The latter can itself lead to a series of health problems, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes, she added.
Cyprus Milk Industry Organisation director Andreas Marangos said average milk consumption was within normal limits.
Marangos said local market research showed 98 per cent of students and 96 per cent of households consumed fresh milk every day, whether it was added to their tea or coffee, breakfast cereals, as part of the ingredients of a meal, or even taken by itself.
“These are very good figures, but we still have capacity to consume more,” he told the Mail.
Cyprus milk and cheese consumption standards were on par with European averages, he added.
“In southern European countries people tend to consume less milk, with Greece averaging about 40 litres per year, whereas northern countries consume about 170 to 180 litres of milk, with Iceland consuming 242 litres per head.”
Marangos said people’s lifestyles had started to change with younger people opting for soft drinks over milk.
“It’s particularly important for women to start drinking milk when they’re young so that they don’t have problems as they get older [such as osteoporosis],” he said.
The director said up until 2004 the organisation had been responsible for calculating cheese consumption figures as well.
“I don’t think they’ll have changed much since then and it’s safe to say we probably consume around 17 kilos per head, per year.”
Greece was the global leader with consumption reaching 24.7 kilos per head, followed by France with 24.1 kilos per head, Marangos said.
Commenting on the figures Andreou said Cypriot averages for dairy consumption were “reasonable”.
“The only problem is people tend to consume full fat dairy products, which explains the high consumption of saturated in fat in daily allowances,” the clinical dietician said.
She said in order to reduce atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease global nutritional guidelines recommended consuming low fat products after the age of two.
“Once a child is over two, it can consume semi-skimmed products and after the age of five it can consume skimmed products,” she added.
