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 | | RISING OBESITY LEVELS CONTRADICT CONSUMER ATTEMPTS TO EAT HEALTHIER | | | Datamonitor | | 06/02/2008 | | | Despite consumers making active attempts to eat healthier, the threat of obesity shows no sign of slowing down. Once confined to high income countries and households, obesity is now just as much of a problem as malnutrition in developing countries. In a new reporttitled ŒObesity, Dieting, Exercise And The Future Of Food And Drink ˆ Understanding consumer attitudes and behaviours‚, independent market analyst Datamonitor explores the contradiction between attempts to eat healthier and rising obesity levels. „Ultimately, food choice is determined by sensory attributes such as taste and pleasure, and consumers will not sacrifice these attributes in favor of nutritional goodness‰, comments consumer market analyst Michael Hughes. „Furthermore, changes in people‚s lifestyles mean that they find it difficult to exercise on a daily basis. As a result, shoppers are consuming more Œbad‚ nutrients and are exercising less.‰
Consumers are moving away from restrictive diets towards more inclusive diets.
Datamonitor‚s survey* reveals approximately 65% of Europeans and Americans made active attempts to eat healthier in 2005-2006. Rather than focusing purely on the elimination of „bad‰ nutrients from their diets, consumers are also embracing the concept of „positive nutrition‰ ˆ focusing on the inherently good content within food and drinks. Indeed, while consumers do not underestimate the importance of cutting down on fat, sugar and salt, they also believe a healthy diet involves eating fresh food and drink (90%) and eating from a diverse range of foods (66%). „Although consumers are moderating what they eat and drink with greater regularity, they still want to maintain a sense of normality when dieting. Focusing on the good nutrients in food and drink makes dieting easier and less compromising,‰ says Hughes. | |
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