Americans are gathering around the dinner table to eat healthier foods, according to a new national survey released here today by the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) and Prevention magazine. The study found a strong correlation between consumers who try the hardest to eat healthfully and those who eat dinner at home nearly every day.
Nearly three in four shoppers (71%) believe the food they eat at home is healthier than meals consumed out. More than nine in 10 consumers prepare at least one home-cooked dinner from scratch every week, and more than half (68%) do it almost daily.
This home-equals-health belief extends to school lunches. Parents are far more satisfied with the nutritional value of the bagged lunches they prepare at home for their children (60%) vs. school cafeteria food (30%).
“These findings underscore the powerful impact of the family dinner,” said FMI President and CEO Tim Hammonds. “Regular family dinners are the best way parents can help their children eat healthy meals. These dinners also help children perform well in school and avoid abusing alcohol, tobacco and illegal drugs, according to research by Columbia University.”
“The study shows most Americans recognize the importance of eating healthier and are laying the foundation to do so: eating at home, buying organic and making healthier choices,” said Cary Silvers, director of consumer and advertising trends for Rodale, the publisher of Prevention. “But Americans are still having trouble doing this. Supermarkets have a real opportunity to offer and package solutions rather than just display products.”
Shoppers Seek More Healthy Choices
Relatively few shoppers believe that grocery stores offer “many” healthy options in frozen entrees (16%), packaged foods (8%), or even ready-to-cook (10%) and prepared foods (12%). Even fewer feel this way about healthy options from fast-food (5%) and other take-out establishments (6%).
Many shoppers expressed interest in nutrition guidance from supermarkets through:
Signs indicating healthy food choices (73%)
Signs and information about disease management (66%)
Staff who can answer nutrition questions (62%)
Weight loss and diet information (56%)
Cooking classes to teach consumers about healthy meals (49%)
Americans Strive and Struggle to Eat Right
The report also found that Americans continue to strive and struggle to eat more nutritious diets: 57% are trying “a lot,” 55% say they are overweight, and 23% of parents report having an overweight child.
Consumers tend to be “free agents,” trying to manage diets on their own, which makes them more susceptible to fads, according to the study. Among those who diet, 59% say they are just “calorie watching or watching what they eat,” 11% follow a low-carb diet, and 9% follow the Jenny Craig or Weight Watchers program.
Consumers Buying More Organic Foods Throughout the Store
More consumers are turning to organic foods to improve their diets. In fact, organic food purchases increased in virtually all the major categories:
44% purchased organic fruits and vegetables in the past six months vs. 37% last year
30%, organic milk or other dairy products vs. 23%
29%, organic cereals, breads or pastas vs. 25%
24%, organic meats or poultry vs. 17%
24%, organic packaged foods (e.g., snacks and beverages) vs. 21%
21%, organic eggs vs. 18%
16%, organic soups and sauces vs. 12%
The chief motivation to buy organic foods remains the perceived nutrition value, cited by eight in 10 shoppers, and nearly two-thirds mentioned long-term health effects. Just over half listed the environmental impact of growing or producing these foods.
This Shopping for Health 2006: Making Healthy Eating Easier survey is the 15th in a series of annual surveys of America’s supermarket shoppers conducted by FMI and Rodale Inc.’s Prevention magazine with support from Men’s Health and Women’s Health magazines. The survey examines shoppers’ interests and attitudes regarding health and nutrition, their efforts to manage diets, and the ways in which health and nutritional concerns play out in buying decisions at the supermarket.
Methodology
This report is based on a national telephone survey of more than 1,000 adults conducted July 2006. All respondents had primary or equally shared responsibility for their household’s grocery shopping.
To purchase Shopping for Health 2006: Making Healthy Eating Easier, visit the FMI Store at www.fmi.org/store/ or call (202) 220-0723. Survey reports are free to the press.
Food Marketing Institute (FMI) conducts programs in research, education, industry relations and public affairs on behalf of its 1,500 member companies — food retailers and wholesalers — in the United States and around the world. FMI’s U.S. members operate approximately 26,000 retail food stores with a combined annual sales volume of $340 billion — three-quarters of all retail food store sales in the United States. FMI’s retail membership is composed of large multi-store chains, regional firms and independent supermarkets. Its international membership includes 200 companies from 50 countries.
Prevention magazine, America’s leading healthy lifestyle publication and the 11th largest magazine in the nation, has been providing readers with the most current information on health, fitness, nutrition, and cutting-edge medical news for more than 50 years. It is the nation’s most authoritative, trustworthy and innovative source for practical health information. Every month, the magazine reaches an audience of more than 11 million readers and its highly acclaimed Web site, Prevention.com, averages 1.6 million unique visitors. Prevention also publishes 14 special-interest titles, four bookazines, and 12 international editions; produces the top-selling Prevention Fitness Systems workout videos; and conducts national surveys examining important health issues. Prevention is published 12 times a year by Rodale Inc.
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