Daily Research News Online no. 3046 - Low Commitment to Low-Carb

Low Commitment to Low-Carb

April 8 2004

Despite all the low-carb diets and foods, The NPD Group's new Report on Carbohydrate Consumption Patterns finds Americans still consuming plenty of them. Even among people who say they are on low-carb diets, only one out of four is actually significantly cutting carbs.

In its latest study NPD Foodworld(r), a division of The NPD Group, tracked the eating patterns of 11,000 adults and found that only a small fraction actually follow a lower-carb diet. The study found that adults who are cutting carbs are still eating an average of 128 refined carbs (defined as total carbs minus dietary fiber) a day - for men the average is 145, women 109 grams. Some low-carb diets recommend 20 to 50 grams of carbs per day for weight loss. The average for all adults in the survey was 210 grams per day.

Study author Anne Mixen says that 'Everybody in the food industry has the potential to be positively or negatively impacted by this low-carb phenomenon. This report sheds some light on how big an impact the low-carb craze is going to have on certain businesses and products in the food industry'.

At any given time, about four percent of the population is on a low-carb/high-protein diet, ie about 10 million Americans. The majority are between the ages of 35-64. Other survey results do not provide a particular boost for such diets, although it is of course necessary to separate cause and effect and interpret carefully:

among those adults really reducing carb intake, forty-percent tell NPD they exercise at least three times a week. This same group is almost 30-percent more likely to be obese.
people who are eating lower carbs report health problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol at above average rates
Adults at the other end of the spectrum, who regularly eat a high-carb diet, are most likely to be an optimal weight or underweight.

Harry Balzer, food research guru and vice president of The NPD Group, says that low-carb diets are a fad, 'just like the low-fat craze of the late 80's and 90's. The question is how long will it last? In the meantime, every manufacturer will put out their version of low-carb products and Americans will try them because that's what we do, we like to try new things. People still want to lose weight by eating, but getting people to change their behavior is very difficult to do'.

The report analyzed the consumption behavior of 11,000 people from data collected from 2001 to 2003, and examined what they ate on a regular basis. It includes data from the National Eating Trends (NET) database of the eating habits of 5000 people at home and away-from-home. The data is collected via paper diaries and has been continuously collected in the same way since 1980.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.