Large Numbers of People Claim to be Changing Their Diets in Ways That Would Improve Their Health

However many Americans may be thinking wishfully

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Nov 09, 2010, 06:35 ET

NEW YORK, Nov. 9, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- A new Harris Poll finds that large numbers of people claim to be changing the foods and drinks they consume. Many of these changes are in line with the guidance provided by experts, such as eating more fruit, whole grains and vegetables and consuming less soda, white bread and processed food. However the data strongly suggest that many of these replies reflect wishful thinking and public knowledge of what people think they should be doing, rather than actual changes in behavior.

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Replies are analyzed by Americans' Body Mass Index (BMI), showing the differences between those who are of normal weight and those who are overweight, obese or morbidly obese. However most of these differences are not large.

These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,620 adults surveyed online between September 14 and 20, 2010 by Harris Interactive.

Some of the interesting findings in this poll are:

Majorities of all adults claim that they frequently or somewhat often eat healthier at home compared to when dining out (79%), drink water as opposed to another type of beverage at meals (74%), choose healthy snacks (72%), eat a balanced diet (72%), read nutritional information on packaged food products before buying it (68%), attempt to eat smaller portions (64%), and exercise regularly (57%);
However, a note of caution is necessary; some of the responses to this and other questions in the poll may reflect what people think they should be doing rather than what they are actually doing. Even if this is the case, the good news is that many people are either doing or know they should be doing these things to stay healthy;
While there are some differences in their replies to this question among those who are and are not overweight or obese, the differences are not very large. Most of those who are obese or even morbidly obese claim to be doing the same healthy things that those who are not overweight say they are doing;
There are many variations in eating habits. Relatively few people are regularly (5 or more times per week) eating a full breakfast (22%), a full or well-balanced lunch (21%) or a full or well-balanced dinner (37%) five or more times a week;
Here again there are not very large differences in claimed eating habits between the obese, the overweight and those of normal weight;
When asked what they have been eating and drinking more or less of in the last few months, very large numbers claim to have made many changes in their diet. As in some of the other questions, we believe that that Americans reflect not just what some they are doing but what they think they should be doing. If all the people who claim to be consuming more or less of these foods and drinks actually were, there would have been huge changes in sales for the various items — evidence of which, we have not seen.
Large numbers of people claim to be eating more fresh fruit (50%), more whole grain items (41%), less white bread (38%), less soda (37%), less processed food (35%), more raw vegetables (34%), less processed meat (34%) and more nuts (30%). Adults who are obese and those who are morbidly obese do not have very different results than that of all adults.
Large majorities of all adults understand that what they eat is important. More than 70% believe that the amount of each of the following in their diet is very or somewhat important: fat (78%), whole grain (78%), protein (77%), calories (74%), saturated fat (74%), sugar (72%), sodium (67%), carbohydrates (65%), and hydrogenated oil (61%).

Confirming the results of a recent Harris/HealthDay Poll, this new poll finds that many of those who are overweight and obese are not fully aware. Only 61% of the morbidly obese, and 26% of the obese (but not morbidly obese) feel that they are "much heavier than they should be." And 20% of those who are overweight (but not obese) describe their weight as "about right."

So What?

When reading the results of this poll, it is necessary to recognize that the country has an "obesity epidemic" with rapidly rising numbers of people who are overweight and obese. There is no good evidence that this trend has stopped or gone into reverse. Given this, it is sensible to conclude, as we have above, that many Americans reflect public aspirations and public knowledge of what they should be doing rather than an accurate report of actual behavior. However, even if this is true there is some good news. Many people know and understand some of the changes in their diet that they should be making. But, as in other areas of behavior change, knowledge alone, while important, is not enough to change behavior.

TABLE 1A EATING HABITS AND BEHAVIORS "Now we'd like to ask a few questions about your eating habits. Please indicate how often, if at all, you do each of the following." Base: All adults
	Frequently/ Somewhat often (NET)	Frequently	Somewhat often	Never/ Not very often (NET)	Not very often	Never
	%	%	%	%	%	%
Eat healthier when at home, compared to when dining out	79	37	43	21	16	4
Drink water as opposed to another type of beverage at meals	74	45	29	26	20	6
Choose healthy snacks	72	24	47	28	22	6
Eat a balanced diet	72	24	48	28	22	6
Read nutrition and calorie information on packaged food products, before deciding whether or not to purchase	68	36	32	32	20	12
Actively attempt to eat smaller portions	64	22	42	36	27	9
Exercise regularly	57	25	32	43	31	12
Limit my carbohydrate intake	43	15	28	57	35	22
Make special requests in restaurants, such as asking for the dressing on the side or an entree grilled or broiled, rather than fried	42	18	24	58	34	24
Choose to sacrifice taste for lower calorie or less fattening food products	38	10	28	62	39	23
Choose restaurants based on the availability of lighter options	33	9	24	67	37	30
Keep track of my daily calorie or food intake	31	10	20	69	31	39
Eat late night meals	30	9	21	70	47	23
Note: Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.

TABLE 1B EATING HABITS AND BEHAVIORS "Now we'd like to ask a few questions about your eating habits. Please indicate how often, if at all, you do each of the following." Summary of those saying "frequently" or "somewhat often" Base: All adults
	Total	BMI Score
	Total	Normal weight	Over-weight	Obese	Morbidly obese
	%	%	%	%	%
Eat healthier when at home, compared to when dining out	79	81	83	74	72
Drink water as opposed to another type of beverage at meals	74	73	76	71	71
Choose healthy snacks	72	72	75	70	63
Eat a balanced diet	72	75	75	70	61
Read nutrition and calorie information on packaged food products, before deciding whether or not to purchase	68	70	67	62	65
Actively attempt to eat smaller portions	64	55	72	60	62
Exercise regularly	57	64	66	49	34
Limit my carbohydrate intake	43	35	50	40	46
Make special requests in restaurants, such as asking for the dressing on the side or an entree grilled or broiled, rather than fried	42	44	44	38	38
Choose to sacrifice taste for lower calorie or less fattening food products	38	39	42	33	33
Choose restaurants based on the availability of lighter options	33	33	35	30	28
Keep track of my daily calorie or food intake	31	31	34	25	29
Eat late night meals	30	32	32	22	33

TABLE 2A FREQUENCY OF EATING HABITS "How often would you say you eat the following?" Base: All adults
	5 or more times per week	3-4 times per week	1-2 times per week	Never
	%	%	%	%
A full breakfast	22	17	38	22
A limited breakfast, such as only a cup of coffee	17	15	23	46
A mid-morning snack	10	18	38	34
A full or well-balanced lunch	21	30	35	14
A lunch on-the-go with little thought to nutritional content	6	11	41	42
An afternoon snack	13	28	41	18
A full or well-balanced dinner	37	37	21	5
Dessert or an after-dinner treat	13	23	48	16
Many small meals throughout the day, rather than 3 standard meals per day	12	18	31	39
Note: Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.

TABLE 2B FREQUENCY OF EATING HABITS "How often would you say you eat the following?" Summary of those who say "5 or more times per week" Base: All adults
	Total	BMI Score
	Total	Normal weight	Over-weight	Obese	Morbidly obese
	%	%	%	%	%
A full breakfast	22	22	29	13	17
A limited breakfast, such as only a cup of coffee	17	16	21	15	11
A mid-morning snack	10	10	13	6	9
A full or well-balanced lunch	21	18	27	17	20
A lunch on-the-go with little thought to nutritional content	6	4	10	2	10
An afternoon snack	13	14	15	9	12
A full or well-balanced dinner	37	39	41	35	29
Dessert or an after-dinner treat	13	13	16	11	10
Many small meals throughout the day, rather than 3 standard meals per day	12	11	15	7	13

TABLE 3A CHANGE IN EATING HABITS "In the last few months, would you say that you have been eating or drinking more or less of the following items?" Base: All adults
	Less	Neither more nor less	More	Not applicable
	%	%	%	%
Yogurt	15	38	29	18
Snack bars	25	43	14	18
Fresh fruit	7	41	50	2
Raw vegetables	9	52	34	5
Fruit juice	16	50	25	9
Cheese	13	64	20	3
White bread	38	39	9	15
Soda	37	37	12	14
Diet beverages	19	34	14	33
Processed foods	35	51	8	6
Processed meats	34	49	8	10
Nuts	14	50	30	6
Pasta	17	63	17	2
Whole grain items	7	47	41	5
Soy products	20	33	9	38
Fish	12	48	31	10
Red meat	24	59	11	5
Poultry	5	54	38	3
Organic foods	15	42	17	27
Note: Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.

TABLE 3B CHANGE IN EATING HABITS "In the last few months, would you say that you have been eating or drinking more or less of the following items?" Summary of those who are obese Base: All adults
	Less	Neither more nor less	More	Not applicable
	%	%	%	%
Yogurt	16	37	24	22
Snack bars	27	43	11	20
Fresh fruit	6	41	49	4
Raw vegetables	8	55	31	6
Fruit juice	15	47	28	10
Cheese	15	71	12	2
White bread	38	44	6	11
Soda	35	43	12	10
Diet beverages	21	37	16	26
Processed foods	35	53	6	6
Processed meats	38	47	6	9
Nuts	16	52	22	10
Pasta	17	67	13	3
Whole grain items	7	47	38	8
Soy products	20	31	5	43
Fish	8	51	30	11
Red meat	27	61	8	4
Poultry	7	54	37	2
Organic foods	14	38	16	31

TABLE 3C CHANGE IN EATING HABITS "In the last few months, would you say that you have been eating or drinking more or less of the following items?" Summary of those who are morbidly obese Base: All adults
	Less	Neither more nor less	More	Not applicable
	%	%	%	%
Yogurt	17	39	30	15
Snack bars	33	40	12	15
Fresh fruit	10	39	49	1
Raw vegetables	9	51	36	4
Fruit juice	15	57	20	8
Cheese	10	67	20	2
White bread	43	39	6	13
Soda	35	38	16	11
Diet beverages	21	29	25	25
Processed foods	36	51	8	5
Processed meats	33	51	8	9
Nuts	15	49	34	2
Pasta	25	54	19	2
Whole grain items	6	48	41	5
Soy products	24	42	5	30
Fish	13	51	27	9
Red meat	18	62	17	4
Poultry	3	49	45	2
Organic foods	23	40	12	25

TABLE 4 MANAGING DIET AND WEIGHT "When thinking about how you manage your diet and/or weight, how important are each of the following to you?" Base: All adults
	Very/ Somewhat important (NET)	Very important	Somewhat important	Not very/ Not at all important (NET)	Not very important	Not at all important
	%	%	%	%	%	%
Fat	78	39	39	22	15	7
Whole grain	78	39	39	22	15	7
Protein	77	39	38	23	16	7
Calories	74	33	41	26	19	7
Saturated fat	74	39	35	26	17	10
Sugar	72	37	36	28	20	8
Sodium	67	31	36	33	23	10
Carbohydrates	65	27	38	35	26	9
Hydrogenated oil	61	27	34	39	27	12
Note: Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.

TABLE 5 PERSONAL ATTITUDE AND BMI SCORE "Thinking about your current weight, if you had to choose, would you describe yourself as…?" Base: All adults
	Total	BMI
	Total	Normal weight	Over-weight	Obese	Morbidly obese
	%	%	%	%	%
Underweight or too thin	3	7	*	*	*
About right	24	52	20	4	1
A few extra pounds	25	31	35	13	6
Heavier than I should be but generally healthy and content	32	10	41	55	30
Much heavier than I should be, or obese	14	*	3	26	61
Decline to answer	2	*	*	2	*
Note: Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.

Methodology

This Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States between September 14 to 20, 2010 among 2,620 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

The results of this Harris Poll may not be used in advertising, marketing or promotion without the prior written permission of Harris Interactive.

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Q855, 860, 865, 870, 5020

The Harris Poll^® #137, November 9, 2010

By Humphrey Taylor, Chairman, The Harris Poll

About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is one of the world's leading custom market research firms, leveraging research, technology, and business acumen to transform relevant insight into actionable foresight. Known widely for the Harris Poll and for pioneering innovative research methodologies, Harris offers expertise in a wide range of industries including healthcare, technology, public affairs, energy, telecommunications, financial services, insurance, media, retail, restaurant, and consumer package goods. Serving clients in over 215 countries and territories through our North American, European, and Asian offices and a network of independent market research firms, Harris specializes in delivering research solutions that help us – and our clients – stay ahead of what's next. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.