What’s the beef? Meaty issue of gender
Dieticians reckon men are eating around 121g, or a quarter of a pound, every day on average. However, yesterday Safefood, the food safety promotion board, said men should be eating no more than 57g a day of all red meats, including lamb, pork and beef.
By contrast women are eating around 27g a day of beef when they need to eat around 57g to get enough nutrients like iron.
“For women and children, including more beef in their diets is advised as research shows many have iron intakes below recommended levels,” said Safefood nutritionist Dr Cliodhna Foley-Nolan.
“Three out of four teenage girls don’t have sufficient iron levels in their diet, yet beef is an excellent source of iron, easily absorbed by our bodies and very palatable.”
Men with high consumption of beef were less likely to eat a diet balanced with fruit, vegetables and other key foods like cereals.
Instead males need to reduce their beef intake to a portion around the same size of a pack of playing cards, Safefood said.
Dr Foley-Nolan said men needed to ensure the beef they ate was lean and fresh instead of the meat found in processed foods like burgers, pasties and takeaways and parents needed to ensure children chose fresh, leaner cuts as part of a balanced and healthy diet.
“Too much of children’s meat consumption is from processed varieties which are higher in salt and fat and lower in nutrients when compared to lean red meat,” said Dr Foley-Nolan.
Sample healthy meals made with lean cuts of meat could include beef stir-fry with vegetables or a dish like spaghetti bolognaise with peppers and tomato puree.
Earlier this year the Irish Universities Nutrition Alliance found 34% of girls aged five to 12 had too little iron in their diets. The figure was 13% for boys.
The figure rose dramatically for teenagers: 74% of girls and 19% of boys aged 13 to 18 had low iron in their diets.
* www.safefood.eu
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