The role of dairy products in the New Zealand diet.

New Zealand is both a major producer and large consumer of dairy products. In 1976, for example, daily per capita consumption of liquid milk averaged 471 ml, cheese 13.7 g/d, and butter 38.4 g/d, the last apparently the highest in the world. Recent studies of the dietary habits of New Zealand adults, and of children of early school age in Dunedin (Birkbeck, Guthrie, Herbert, personal communication) have provided information on the role of dairy products as source of nutrients. National consumption figures or family market basket surveys provide no information about individual intakes, since they do not reflect age or sex differences between consumers.