Research Delves Into Eating Habits
October 27 2005
Recent studies from NPD and Packaged Facts find US consumers eating more takeaway meals and using fewer fresh products, while also becoming increasingly concerned about food safety. Meanwhile, dietary concerns are spreading to Australia, where a TNS study finds 67% of women overweight, and a third of teenagers underweight.
What we eat and where
NPD's 20th Annual Eating Patterns in America study, which tracks the consumption habits of hundreds of thousands of Americans, highlights significant changes in eating habits over the last 20 years. Findings include the following:
- The number of meals eaten in a restaurant annually has decreased from 93 per person in 1985 to 80 today.
- The number of meals purchased at a restaurant and eaten in the car has increased from 19 per person in 1985 to 32 today.
- 92% of take-out lunches come from fast food restaurants, and 92% of people consume some ready-to-eat foods in the home every day.
- 46% of in-home main meals include a fresh product, down from 56% in 1985.
The increase in takeaway meal consumption is also highlighted in a new report from Packaged Facts, a division of publisher MarketResearch.com. The report,
Foodservice and Retail: The Blurring of the Channels, says takeout sales in the US have been growing at 6 to 8% a year, with households now taking out an average of 118 meals per year - 64% more than 20 years ago. As a result, the report says, both retail and food service providers are 'scrambling to capitalize on what's becoming more than a niche market'.
Safety concernsAnother important change is consumers' growing awareness of food safety issues. According to another Packaged Facts report -
Understanding Consumer Attitudes About Food Safety - safety is one of the key drivers of food purchasing behaviours.
The report, based on research undertaken with 400 US consumers, says 25% of US consumers are 'highly aware' of food safety issues, and actively avoid foods they think are unsafe. Don Montuori, publisher of the report, says 'awareness of safety is growing swiftly in every demographic in society, and is affecting how and where consumers are spending their food dollars'.
Dieting and weight issuesAccording to the NPD report, one thing that has not changed is the number of people on a diet (25% in both 1985 and today) - despite America's expanding waistlines. However, only 53% of people today say they try to avoid snacking, compared with 71% in 1985.
US consumers are also much more accepting of overweight people than they were 20 years ago. In 1985, 55% of respondents said they completely agreed with the statement 'People who are not overweight look a lot more attractive'. This year, just 24% completely agree.
Acceptance might be growing in the US, but a study from TNS shows that Australian women are still keen to shed their excess pounds. The online study of 506 Australian women aged 15+ found two thirds (67%) were overweight based on their body mass index (BMI), with four in ten (39%) obese.
Two thirds of the women were trying to lose weight: 25% belonged to a slimming club, 21% were following an international weight-loss program like the Atkins or South Beach diet, and 22% were using weight-loss pills. However, only 17% took regular exercise.
The study also highlights the pressure on teenage girls to be thin. More than a quarter (26%) of 15 to 19 year olds considered themselves overweight when their BMI indicated that they were not. 30% are in fact underweight.
The TNS and NPD web sites are at
www.tns-global.com and
www.npd.com . The
Packaged Facts Food Safety and
Foodservice and Retail reports are available to buy from
www.PackagedFacts.com.
All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.
