In the South African context, increases in total fat and animal protein intake of affluent black South Africans were associated with increases in BMI and in total serum cholesterol (Vorster, 2002).
In affluent populations, where protein intake is greatly in excess of needs, obtaining sufficient good quality protein is usually only a concern for young children who are not provided with animal proteins.
Bread to Be Had, for a Price As the newly urbanized and newly affluent seek more protein and more calories, a phenomenon called "diet globalization" is playing out around the world.
It turns out that, along with zippy cars and flat-panel TVs, milk is the mark of new money, a significant source of protein that factors into much of any affluent person's diet.
Beef production, by contrast, produces 16 kilograms of the gas per kilogram of meat.An increasingly affluent world is demanding more animal protein.
We need to consider the environmental impacts but we also need to think, in a way Safran Foer never does, about the impact of cheaply available animal proteins upon the mass population, rather than just the affluent middle-class portion of it.
As people around the world become more affluent, they are demanding diets richer in animal protein, which will require ever more robust feed crop yields to sustain.
In terms of human health, both affluent and poor countries could benefit from policies that more equitably distribute high-protein foods.
For instance, allergenic proteins in food and other hypersensitivity reactions are major causes of chronic ill health in affluent industrial nations, mostly against milk, eggs, peanuts, soy, or wheat, affecting up to 8% of infants and young children [ 5- 7].
