Children's consumption of rabbit meat

Abstract

<p>The nutritional and dietary properties of rabbit meat make it an ideal food for children, recommended by the World Health Organisation. However, the presence of children under 18 in the home has been found to decrease the frequency of rabbit meat consumption. If we focus on households with children under 18, 52.5% of minors do not consume rabbit meat. The main reason why children (intended as people under 18 yr old) do not consume rabbit meat is the fact that they do not like it (40.9%) and because it is not bought/eaten at home (30.9%). Faced with this situation, there is a pressing need to seek appropriate strategies to adapt rabbit meat for consumption by the youngest family members. In light of the results, the following strategies are proposed. First, the development of functional foods for babies and children, such as rabbit meat enriched with ω3 and docosahexaenoic acid. Secondly, improving meat tenderness. Third, adapting rabbit meat presentations for children (burgers, nuggets, sausages, marinades …), converting them into convenience products for parents and extending their shelf life. Fourth, adapting the labelling/packaging for children to attract attention of both parents and offspring. Finally, developing communication strategies on the nutritional value of rabbit meat aimed at both children and parents. It is observed that if minors consume rabbit meat, they also eat other types of meat such as lamb and beef more often. Therefore, in this type of households a varied and complete diet is consumed in terms of meat consumption, so it would be necessary to rethink joint communication strategies among the three meat sectors. Promoting rabbit meat consumption among the under 18s has several consequences, as in the future they will be in charge of household purchases or share this responsibility.</p>

The effect of fish oil, lycopene and organic selenium as feed additives on rabbit meat quality

“…As rabbit meat has unique nutritional and dietary properties, not only for children but also for adults, the sensory quality of meat should be not overlooked in studies. Similar observation was shown by Escribá-Pérez et al (2019) who claimed that rabbit industry should think about the child segment.…”

“…Rabbit meat is of high biological value, appreciated for its favourable properties such as high protein level as well as meat leanness with less cholesterol, saturated fatty acids and high amount of unsaturated fatty acids; 60% of all fatty acids (FA) ( Dalle Zotte 2002;Hermida et al 2006;Hernández 2008;Nistor et al 2013;Petrescu and Petrescu-Mag 2018). It has fewer calories and is healthier than beef, chicken, lamb or pork (Oliver et al 1997;Escribá-Pérez et al 2019). Due to nutritional value the World Health Organisation recommended rabbit meat for children over other types of meat (WHO) (Vergara et al 2005).…”

Consumers’ Attitude to Consumption of Rabbit Meat in Eight Countries Depending on the Production Method and Its Purchase Form

“…The consumer preferences for rabbit meat have been investigated by some researchers: in Spain [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22], in France [23], in Hungary [24][25][26], in Poland [27], in Romania [28], in China [10], in Indonesia [29], in Mexico [30], in the USA [31][32][33], in South Africa [34,35], in Nigeria [36], in Kenya [37] and in Tanzania [38]. As an example, some studies are presented on what authors from different countries have examined in relation to rabbit meat consumption.…”

“…Kallas and Gil [16]: origin (foreign, Spain, Catalonia), format (boneless, pieced and entire) and brand (unbranded, commercial brand and quality brand). Escribá-Pérez et al [20]: opinion about rabbit meat consumption (causes of rejection), frequency of meat consumption (beef, chicken, pork and rabbit), benefits provided by rabbit meat and types of rabbit meat presentations.…”

Characterization of Children’s Consumption of Chicken and Turkey Meat to Develop Social Responsibility Strategies

“…So, we can see that households with children under 18 years old prefer these types of meat in comparison with those households where there are not children. Therefore, the presence of children in the household leads to different meat consumption and purchase habits (Escribá-Pérez et al, 2019).…”