Most Americans are Health Conscious but Senior Citizens Make Healthiest Choices
Healthy eating habits differ the most between the
old and the young
April 27, 2011 - When purchasing food and
beverages, most U.S. adults are aware of basic nutritional facts of
these products and how to manage their weight. As Americans age,
however, they develop stronger purchasing preferences and habits with
regard to healthier choices. Senior citizens (66+ years old), called
Matures in this study, are the most likely of all generations to pay
close attention to nutritional facts and translate their health
consciousness into behavior, possibly because they are more likely to
need to follow a diet with specific restrictions, such as with low salt
and sugar.
In addition, Americans think that locally sourced
produce is an important aspect of food choice. At first glance, the
good news is that U.S. adults show a high level of health-consciousness,
but whether or not awareness translates into behavior is still in
question.
The differences in eating habits among age groups
suggest that actual behavioral change may, to some extent, be more
driven by necessity than by knowledge.
These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of
2,379 adults surveyed online between March 7 and 14, 2011 by
Harris Interactive.
● Awareness of key nutritional facts is high. At
least three-quarters of all U.S. adults place importance on fresh (89%),
fiber (81%), whole grains (81%), fat content (80%), portion size (79%),
calories (77%) and saturated fat (76%) when making food and beverage
purchases. However, more specialized nutritional items are rated much
lower with 33% and 20% rating gluten and vegan as important,
respectively;
● Awareness of how to manage a diet is also
high. At least seven out of 10 of all U.S. adults place importance on
consumption of protein (83%), fat (81%), whole grains (81%), calories
(80%), saturated fat (79%), sugar (76%), cholesterol (75%),
carbohydrates (74%), and sodium (73%) when thinking of how they manage
their diet and/or weight. Hydrogenated oils were rated the lowest in
importance at 67%;
● Sugar and salt drive dietary behavioral
change. Over half of U.S. adults (57%) place some type of monitor or
restriction on their diet. Sugar and salt are the top two restricted
items, with 34% and 32% restricting salt and sugar, respectively;
● Local is in, but organic lags behind. When
asked about broader food-related issues, 71% of U.S. adults rate
locally-sourced produce as important when thinking about where their
food comes from. Comparatively, only 42% rate organic as important;
ACTION/AWARENESS GAP - Table 5
"Do you or does anyone in your household monitor or restrict
their intake of any of the following items?"
Base: Adults who rated sugar, salt, or carbohydrates as
important when managing their diet/weight
Total
Generation
Echo Boomers
(18-34)
Gen X
(35-46)
Baby Boomers
(47-65)
Matures
(66+)
%
%
%
%
%
Sodium
47
31
38
50
67
Sugar
42
32
36
58
61
Carbohydrates
27
21
20
26
43
Note: Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding.
● Matures lead all age groups in diet
changes. Three quarters (76%) of Matures have a diet restriction,
as compared to 58% of Baby Boomers (aged 47-65), 50% of
Generation X (aged 35-46), and 51% of Echo Boomers (aged 18-34).
Matures are also more likely to curb their salt or sugar intake than
any other generational group; and,
● Nutrition Awareness is not translating into
dietary change for most generations. Among those who rate sugar or salt
as important when managing their diet/weight, less than half of these
U.S. adults actually restrict their sugar (42%) or salt (47%) intake.
The action/awareness gap is even more pronounced when comparing the
youngest and oldest generations, where 32% and 31% of Echo Boomers
restrict their sugar or salt intake respectively, compared to 67% and
61% of Matures who do.
The high levels of awareness indicate that the
nutritional initiatives in recent years, such as revisions to food
labels and increased interest in obesity programs, seem to be effective
in creating a health-conscious public; however, transforming awareness
into healthy habits is the next step.
As noted in a previous
Harris Poll "knowledge alone, while important, is not enough to
change behavior," and the current data reinforces this issue.
TABLE 1
IMPORTANT WHEN MAKING FOOD AND BEVERAGE PURCHASES
"When thinking about all of your food and beverage purchases,
how important are each of the following to you?"
Base: All adults
Important (NET)
Very important
Somewhat important
Not important (NET)
Not
very important
Not
at all important
Not
at all sure
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
Fresh
89
60
29
7
4
3
4
Fiber
81
45
37
15
9
6
3
Whole grain
81
47
35
16
9
7
3
Fat
content
80
46
34
17
11
6
2
Portion size
79
37
42
18
12
7
3
Calories
77
40
37
20
14
6
3
Saturated fat
76
46
30
21
12
9
3
Sugar
72
34
38
25
16
9
2
Dairy
72
35
37
25
14
11
3
Sodium or salt
71
37
34
26
18
8
2
Carbohydrates
71
29
42
27
18
8
3
Preservatives
67
28
38
30
20
10
3
High fructose corn syrup
60
31
30
35
21
14
5
Artificial sugar
59
31
28
37
20
17
4
Packaged food
58
18
40
38
25
13
4
Frozen
52
16
36
44
30
14
4
Gluten
33
10
23
60
29
31
7
Vegan
20
6
14
73
21
51
7
Note: Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding.
TABLE 2
IMPORTANT WHEN MANAGING DIET AND/OR WEIGHT
"When thinking about how you manage your diet and/or weight, how
important are each of the following to you?"
Base: All adults
Important (NET)
Very important
Somewhat important
Not important (NET)
Not
very important
Not
at all important
%
%
%
%
%
%
Protein
83
39
44
17
11
6
Fat
81
42
39
19
12
7
Whole grain
81
41
40
19
12
7
Calories
80
39
41
20
13
7
Saturated fat
79
42
37
21
14
8
Sugar
76
33
43
24
16
8
Cholesterol
75
37
38
25
17
9
Carbohydrates
74
29
46
26
17
8
Sodium
73
34
39
27
18
9
Hydrogenated oil
67
29
38
33
22
11
Note: Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding.
TABLE 3
FOOD RESTRICTIONS
"Do
you or does anyone in your household monitor or restrict their
intake of any of the following items?"
Base: All adults
Total
Generation
Echo Boomers (18-34)
Gen X (35-46)
Baby Boomers (47-65)
Matures (66+)
%
%
%
%
%
Any (NET)
57
51
50
58
76
Sodium or salt
34
19
27
39
57
Sugar
32
22
26
35
52
Carbohydrates
20
14
14
20
37
Lactose
10
7
9
12
15
Meat or meat products
10
11
6
9
16
Dairy
10
9
9
11
10
Shell-fish
8
9
8
6
11
Gluten
6
4
3
9
10
Peanuts
5
5
3
5
7
All nuts
4
4
3
3
7
Fish
4
4
4
2
6
None of these
43
49
50
42
24
Note: Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding.
TABLE 4
IMPORTANT WHERE FOOD COMES FROM
"Now we'd like to ask about where your food comes from.
Thinking again about your food and beverage purchases, how
important are each of the following to you?"
Base: All adults
Important (NET)
Very important
Somewhat important
Not important (NET)
Not
very important
Not
at all important
%
%
%
%
%
%
Locally sourced produce
71
25
46
29
17
11
Environmentally friendly packaging
65
19
46
35
22
13
Animals that are fed with non-antibiotic animal feed
61
24
38
39
25
14
Wild-caught fish and seafood
56
21
35
44
24
20
Bottled water
46
16
30
54
26
28
Packaging that contains plastic
45
12
33
55
37
19
Organic
42
12
30
58
33
25
Note: Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding.
About source:
This Harris Poll was conducted
online within
the United States
between
March 7 to 14, 2011 among 2,379 adults (aged 18 and over).
Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household
income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their
actual proportions in the population.
The Harris Pollฎ#52,
April 27, 2011
By
Mary Bouchard,
Vice President and
Andrew Compagno, Research Manager, Consumer Goods,
Restaurant and Retail Research,
Harris Interactive
About Harris Interactive
Harris Interactive
is one of the world's leading custom market research firms, leveraging
research, technology, and business acumen to transform relevant insight
into actionable foresight. Known widely for the Harris Poll and for
pioneering innovative research methodologies, Harris offers expertise in
a wide range of industries including healthcare, technology, public
affairs, energy, telecommunications, financial services, insurance,
media, retail, restaurant, and consumer package goods. Serving clients
in over 215 countries and territories through our North American,
European, and Asian offices and a network of independent market research
firms, Harris specializes in delivering research solutions that help us
and our clients stay ahead of what's next. For more information,
please visit
www.harrisinteractive.com.
Keep up with the latest news for senior citizens, baby
boomers
April 27, 2011 - When purchasing food and
beverages, most U.S. adults are aware of basic nutritional facts of
these products and how to manage their weight. As Americans age,
however, they develop stronger purchasing preferences and habits with
regard to healthier choices. Senior citizens (66+ years old), called
Matures in this study, are the most likely of all generations to pay
close attention to nutritional facts and translate their health
consciousness into behavior, possibly because they are more likely to
need to follow a diet with specific restrictions, such as with low salt
and sugar.