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Information on the 2007 Food & Health Survey Web cast.
INTRODUCTION
The IFIC Foundation Food & Health Survey provides ongoing insights into the many connections Americans make between the food they eat and their health. The initial wave of this survey was conducted in 2006 and acts as a benchmark study. The 2007 Food & Health Survey is the second wave. Over time, this survey will provide consumer insights to guide and shape future education and communication initiatives as well as trend data to measure the progress made toward achieving public health goals.
Areas of Inquiry The 2006 survey focused primarily on how consumers approach overall diet, physical activity, and weight to manage their physical health. Other questions explored consumer knowledge and attitudes toward principal nutrients, such as fats, sugars, and carbohydrates. Finally, questions addressed consumer attitudes toward and use of information sources such as the Nutrition Facts Panel and MyPyramid in making food choices.
The 2007 survey repeated many of the questions asked in 2006 for trending purposes, with the majority asking about overall diet, physical activity, and weight as key determinants of health. Several new questions were added to better understand consumers’ knowledge and
use of information about calories to help them manage weight and health. Other questions were also included to explore consumer awareness and interest in the functional benefits of foods that can contribute to physical health as well as a sense of well-being.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In 2006, the International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation released the results from the first Food & Health Survey: Consumer Attitudes toward Food, Nutrition, and Health. The research provides the opportunity to see how consumers view their own diets, their efforts to improve them, and their understanding of the components of their diets. In order to effectively communicate with consumers, health professionals and others need to understand what issues are most important and craft communication programs that would help consumers implement behavioral changes.
In early 2007, the IFIC Foundation conducted the second Food & Health Survey and discovered the following findings.
Overall Health Americans’ perception of their health status improved, with 39 percent indicating their health is “excellent” or “very good,” compared to 33 percent in the 2006 survey. Although there was no change year to year, Americans’ degree of satisfaction with their health status remained relatively high, with 58 percent indicating they were “extremely satisfied” or “somewhat satisfied.”
The respondents indicated that physical activity (94 percent), weight (91 percent), and diet (90 percent) are all influential factors on a person’s overall health.
Weight Americans’ concern with their weight appears to be a very strong factor in influencing a decision to make a dietary change. Seventy-five percent say they are concerned with their weight, whereas 66 percent of respondents in the 2006 survey had weight concerns. In addition, 70 percent cite their reason for making dietary changes is “to lose weight,” and 56 percent say they are actively “trying to lose weight.”
Diet and Physical Activity More Americans (66 percent) reported making changes to improve the healthfulness of their diet compared to 57 percent last year. The specific types of dietary changes most often reported are “changing meal and snack patterns” (59 percent) and “reducing portion sizes” (58 percent). Interestingly, 23 percent of Americans reported “increased physical activity” as a specific diet-related change in 2007 compared to 15 percent last year.
Sixty percent of Americans who are trying to lose weight say they are making an effort “to reduce the number of calories” they consume. However, there appears to be an important disconnect between this reported behavior and Americans’ general knowledge about calories. For
example, only 11 percent correctly estimated the recommended number of calories per day for a person of their age and weight, 31 percent correctly understand that calories from any source contribute equally to potential weight gain, and 44 percent report that they do not balance
diet and physical activity to manage their weight (calories consumed vs. calories expended).
Dietary Fats Seventy-two percent of Americans indicated in 2007 that they are concerned with both the amount and types of fats they consume compared to 66 percent last year. Concern over trans fat appears to be an important contributor to this overall increase. Awareness of trans fat grew to 87 percent in 2007 from 81 percent last year. Sixty-three percent of Americans say they use trans fat information on the Nutrition Facts Panel, up from just 49 percent last year. And 75 percent of Americans say they are limiting their consumption of trans fat, up from 54 percent in 2006. However, 63 percent of Americans believe that more healthful oils are being used in food products, versus 45 percent last year.
Although Americans know that type of fat is important, knowledge of the types that dietary guidance recommends be consumed in larger amounts, including mono- and polyunsaturated fats, is limited. Awareness of both of these healthful fats has declined over the past year, and the number of Americans who are trying to consume less polyunsaturated fats increased to 42 percent from 33 percent in 2006.
Carbohydrates, Low-Calorie Sweeteners, and Sugars Americans are more concerned with the amount of sugar they consume (70 percent in 2007 versus 63 percent in 2006) and the type of sugar they consume (58 percent vs.53 percent). Overall consumption trends remain consistent for low-calorie sweeteners, with the exception of aspartame, where we find a significant decrease in the number of Americans who are trying to consume less (31 percent) compared to 2006 (40 percent).
Even though there was no significant change in Americans’ concern over the amount of carbohydrates they consume, concern with the type of carbohydrates they consume increased to 52 percent in 2007 from 47 percent in 2006.
Foods and Beverages with Added Health and Wellness Benefits Although “taste” and “price” continue to have the greatest impact on Americans’ decisions to buy foods and beverages, the importance of “healthfulness” is growing (65 percent in 2007 vs. 58 percent in 2006). When asked (without prompting) what changes they are making to improve the healthfulness of their diet, Americans indicated they are both increasing (36 percent in 2007 vs. 23 percent in 2006) and decreasing (29 percent in 2007 vs. 21 percent in 2006) consumption of specific foods and beverages.
In making dietary changes, Americans say they agree that certain foods and beverages can improve “heart health” (80 percent), maintain overall health and wellness (76 percent), improve physical energy or stamina (76 percent), and improve digestive health (75 percent).
Meal Occasions Ninety percent of consumers named breakfast as the most important meal of the day, followed by dinner (87 percent) and lunch (80 percent); however, only 49 percent of consumers eat breakfast seven days per week. Snacks are also an important part of most Americans’ day, with nearly all Americans (93 percent) consuming at least one snack per day.
Caffeine Consumption Less than half of Americans say they “do not limit their caffeine intake” (40 percent), while 48 percent are “actively limiting or trying to limit their intake,” and another 12 percent have “eliminated caffeine” from their diets.
Food Allergies Finally, only 16 percent of the American public can accurately identify the correct percentage of the U.S. population that has food allergies (five percent of the population).
METHODOLOGY
This research was conducted by Cogent Research of Cambridge, MA. All data for this study were collected from February 19 to March 9, 2007 via a Web-based survey consisting of 120 questions. The outgoing e-mail list for this study was constructed to be reflective of the U.S. population on key census characteristics, with adjustments made for groups with historically lower response rates. To ensure the final results were representative of the adult population in the United States, the survey data were weighted against the latest U.S. Census projections on specific key attributes. The data presented in this report reflect these weighted data.
Throughout this report, 2007 data are compared with the 2006 benchmark study data (collected in November 2005). The 2006 benchmark study also utilized a Web-based methodology and surveyed a representative population of the U.S. on key demographic variables. Statistically significant differences between 2006 and 2007 are noted in the report by up or down arrows.
The findings presented here rely primarily on univariate analyses and cross-tabulations. All questions were cross-tabulated by a set of key variables, including primary demographic characteristics (e.g., age, income), health-based characteristics (e.g., body mass index [BMI]1, health history), and attitudinal characteristics (e.g., satisfaction with health status).
A sample of 1,000 interviews is subject to a maximum sampling error of ±3.1 percentage points (at the 95 percent confidence level). Comparisons of data from 2007 to 2006 are subject to a maximum sampling error of ±4.4 percentage points (at the 95 percent confidence level).
| METHODOLOGY | Web survey |
| POPULATION | Representative sample of Americans aged 18+ |
| DATA COLLECTION PERIOD | February 19 - March 9, 2007 |
| SAMPLE SIZE (ERROR) | n=1,000 (± 3.1 percentage points) |
| DATA WEIGHTING* | Data are weighted to the U.S. Census by age, education, and gender
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*Weighting is a widely accepted statistical technique that is used to ensure that the distribution of the sample reflects that of the population on key demographics. With any data collection method, even when the outgoing sample is balanced to the U.S. Census, some populations are more likely than others to respond.
1 BMI was calculated from self-reported weight and height and was categorized according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) standards.
