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Living a healthy lifestyle is actually easy once you get the habits down pat, so why are people finding it so hard?

International Food Information Council Foundation’s second annual Food & Health Survey Results

Hot off the press, based off interviews of a thousand adults in the United states, the following results stood out:

• Breakfast: although 90% agree to its importance, only 49% actually have one
• Dieting: 56% where trying to loose weight for various reasons while 66% classified themselves of overweight +
• Food Choices: 65% look more towards purported health of a product then price or taste
• Snacks: 93% have at least one a day
• Caffeine: 88% consumption rate
• Awareness of Nutrients Consumption in Diet: Protein (19%), Carbohydrates (26%), Calories (27%), Fat (34%) and Sugar (38%)
• People who have never heard of the following: Fiber (13%), Aspartame (35%), Sucralose (36%) and no clue about anything (3%)
• Physical Activity: 16% are couch potatoes doing none
• Packaging: 65% check the expiration date but only 58% check the ingredients/nutritional information
• 66% of respondents had family members with heart disease while 38% had some with diabetes with cancer being 29%
• Respondents Demographics: 53.4% where married, 26% had at least a University Degree and 76.2% where white

What does this all mean?

Good question, let me try to make sense of these stats in one sarcastic shot. The vast majority of Americans are caffeine addicts who believe the expiration date on the food is more important then its nutritional value. Two thirds consider themselves so fat that half skip breakfast as part of a sensible diet plan to help induce snacking throughout the day, as a result, they they have no clue how much they are actually eating. Sadly, a sixth of Americans have given up on ever leading a healthy lifestyle.

What does this reflect?

I believe that the above results reflect a national need for far more awareness about foods and health in general, this needs to start with kids at the elementary level so they can help educate their parents. Let me repeat this a third time, two thirds of Americans consider themselves overweight… yes… two thirds! What is the excuse given? My guess is they are simply too busy with life to make their own health a priority, without realizing that without health, life really sucks! I find it rather obvious based on this survey that the reason why people find it so hard to find their healthy body comes down to simply education about dietary choices.

Questions I wished they asked

I really hope that in 2008 they ask the following questions to gain further insight into the psyche of Americans:

• Do you participate in a weight training regimen? (if yes, how many times a week)
• What percentage of the meals that you consume in a week home cooked as opposed to take-out?
• How many days in a week do you consume alcohol?
• What is more important to you, perfect health or financial independence?
• If you where a tree…

The Bottom Line

Physical activities must be planned and executed within a framework of regular habits to become part of a healthy lifestyle.

References:
http://www.ific.org/