For almost 30 years, Americans have been hearing about the dangers of fat in their diets. Research has established that too much dietary fat may be linked to risk of diseases such as heart disease, some cancers and obesity.
For health professionals and educators, this is old news. And most consumers realize that a diet high in fat may not be as healthy as a diet lower in fat. So, why aren't Americans making the switch to lower fat diets? Is it because they don't care? Or, are they getting the wrong messages?
What Does the Research Say?
Actually, consumer research studies indicate that most people DO care about nutrition and health but are having trouble translating interest into behavior change.
According to the Food Marketing Institute's (FMI) 1999 Trends study, nearly 7 out of 10 consumers say their diets need some improvement. While they know their diets should be better, dietary intake data suggest they are making some, but not great, strides in improving their diets.
There is a dichotomy between what they know they should do and what they are actually doing. Part of this "nutritional schizophrenia" may, in part, be because people feel they've heard so much confusing and conflicting information. It may also be that they perceive the barriers to achieving "nutritional utopia" are too great for them to overcome.
What Do Consumers Say?
To better understand consumers' feelings about nutrition and to explore the dietarymessages that have led to their particular feelings, in the fall of 1998, the International Food Information Council (IFIC) conducted focus groups of female consumers (primary nutrition gatekeepers who make most of the food choices and purchases for the family). This research comprised the first part of a multi-phase plan to develop dietary fats messages that are consistent with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and are meaningful and empowering to consumers.
In focus groups, when asked the degree of comfort they had with their diets, not one of the women reported being 100 percent comfortable. In fact, the vast majority expressed considerable discomfort about what they eat. Guilt, worry, helplessness, anger and fear were the primary emotions expressed about their diets.
"I feel like a bad mom. I know that my kids should have better things to eat."
Guilt about eating habits results from feeling they are not doing what is expected of them, or what is right. Their guilt was focused on particular foods such as rich desserts and snack foods. However, guilt is pushed aside with the crush of other obligations and other aspects of their lives that are greater priority. Overall, their guilt seems strong enough to produce powerful discomfort, but not strong enough to produce permanent behavior change.
Worry and fear emerge from thinking about the effect of not eating a "healthy" diet. This was especially true of women who know or live with persons with diet-related illnesses such as diabetes or colon cancer.
"I worry about 10 or 15 years from now. There's cancer in my family. You try to balance out meals, but you do worry about it."
Feelings of helplessness seem to take two forms the first, being out of control and the second, being overwhelmed by information. Feeling out of control often stems from personal experiences around food, such as binges or intense cravings leading the women to eat in excess. In an era of 24 hour news programs and instantaneous information on the Internet where nutrition messages are constantly barraging consumers, information overload often leaves them feeling helpless and unable to make "the right" food choices.
A different form of helplessness results from the volume of negative nutrition information, leading consumers to believe there is no realistic chance of eating a healthful diet. This frustrated many women so much that they may soon stop listening to nutrition information.
"I just feel like-forget it.I don't have time to worry about all this stuff-and I tune it out."
The perceived inconsistencies and fluctuations in nutrition recommendations that they read, see and hear in the media evoked a fair amount of anger in some of the participants.
"[When researchers contradict each other,]I feel anger, not knowing if I have to be the researcher myself to know for sure."
Fear, although mentioned less often, was a disturbing source of discomfort about diet. Much of the fear comes from projecting what they eat today to some future serious disease such as cancer or heart disease.
"I'm scared of fat now. We're constantly bombarded with how bad it is for us."
Dietary Fat: Nutrition Slander?
Dietary fat is, by far, consumers' number one concern about diet. The FMI Trends survey shows that half of consumers cite "fat" as their chief concern, with cholesterol a distant second at 18 percent. In focus groups, women said they'd heard the message "cut down on fat" and have some knowledge about the relationship between fat and heart disease.
Using the Dietary Guidelines for Americans message on dietary fats, "Choose a diet low in fat, saturated fat and cholesterol," participants were asked how the message made them feel and what "action" was suggested. The majority of women interpreted the guideline to mean that they should reduce their fat intake as much as possible. One participant illustrated her interpretation of the low fat message with the phrase, "no fat, no taste, no enjoyment."
When the message was slightly changed to "Choose a diet moderate in fat, saturated fat and cholesterol," the reactions to the message were consistent most felt it implied common sense and responsible choices. Two very strong distinctions emerged between the "low fat" and "moderate fat" message motivation and control. The adjective "moderate" would be more likely to motivate them towards achieving a healthful diet and the verb "moderate" is something that they have the power (control) to do.
For most, the difference between the "low fat" message and the "moderate fat" message was that they expressed they could actually achieve a diet moderate in fat. In addition, several believed "moderate" is more motivating than "low."
It is clear that current nutrition guidance has left consumers with negative feelings about food and their diets. We also know that this message hasn't caused them to dramatically change their behaviors. So how do we talk to consumers in a way that is meaningful?
From IFIC's research, it is clear that messages should-
- Address sources of discomfort about eating habits
- Empower consumers to make changes
- Set a positive goal that consumers perceive as "doable" New Nutrition Conversation with Consumers
With the approaching new millennium, it is time to begin a "new nutrition conversation with consumers." To affect behavior change, messages about food and nutrition should be positive and should speak to consumers in ways they understand, believe and that will motivate them to change. Bringing consumers into the message development process can help ensure resulting messages inspire trust and action.
Ideal Message about Dietary Fat, According to Female Consumers
- "Maybe a message saying, if you eat your five servings of fruit and vegetables a day, the result will be a diet moderate in fat."
- "Tell them they don't have to limit what they eat. Tell them that it's okay to eat that hot fudge sundae once in a while that it's not that hard to do."
- "Women need positive, encouraging words, instead of just ‘don't'."
