Bangkok (FAO) - Rising incomes, urbanization and changing lifestyles have led to a major shift in food preferences in Asia and the Pacific region. Traditionally carbohydrate-heavy Asian diets are becoming richer in fat and protein with rice consumption declining in Southeast and East Asia since 1995.

Over the past 20 years, meat consumption in the region has more than doubled while milk consumption grew 50 percent in India, potato consumption ten-fold in Thailand and apple consumption four-fold in China.6 An analysis of Asian economic growth and food consumption between 1961 and 2003, when per capita GDP in East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia increased ten, four and two-and-a half times respectively, evidences a strong association between rising incomes and fat consumption.

Over the same period, per capita dietary energy consumption increased from 1 600 to 2900 kcal/person/day in East Asia, from 1 800 to 2 700 kcal/person/day in Southeast Asia and from 2 000 to 2 400 kcal/person/day in South Asia.

Protein consumption in the same period grew from 44 to 82 gm/ person/day in East Asia, from 40 to 65 gm/person/day in Southeast Asia and from 52 to 58 gm/person/ day in South Asia.

The fat content of the East Asian diet grew from 15 to 94 gm/person/day over the same period, mainly from greater consumption of livestock products. Consumption of livestock products, vegetable oils and fats doubled the dietary fat content in Southeast Asia to 56 gm/person/day in the same period while it grew from 30 to 52 gm/person/day in South Asia with vegetable oils and fats as the main source of dietary fat.

Changing food habits are breaking links between local consumption and supply with greater reliance on imports and modern retailing which can affect traditional livelihoods. For example, supermarkets are estimated to meet over a fifth of China’s food demands by 2015.

More information at:
http://www.fao.org/tempref/docrep/fao/011/ai431e/ai431e00.pdf