A thinning year for Americans

By Jon Bonné, MSNBC


There's light at the end of the Twinkie. Americans' collective weight gain
leveled off in the past year after half a decade of us all getting fatter,
according to a new national survey of eating habits. Consumers appear to be
focusing on healthier foods and are more worried about fats and additives.

THE RESULTS come from the NPD Group's annual "Eating Patterns in America"
study, publicly released Tuesday. The study tracked how many Americans were
overweight based on the Body Mass Index (BMI). The percentage of overweight
Americans has always grown, according to the study, and rose from 50
percent in 1998 to 56 percent in the 2002 study. This year revealed a drop
to 55 percent -- hardly a sign of impending twiggishness, but possibly a
hint that Americans are hearing the gospel about healthy eating.
"It's a surprise," says NPD vice president Harry Balzer, who has authored
the study for nearly 20 years. "The one thing we could count on was
Americans were going to get heavier."

Balzer is less sure about why obesity seems to have leveled off. In part,
he believes it may be that we're finally absorbing years of nutrition
labels (federally mandated since 1994), food guidelines and recommendations
like the "Five a Day" program for vegetables.

While fewer households were interested in dieting, 35 percent of Americans
say they carefully plan to eat nutritious meals, the study found, a slight
increase. And the number of "Naturalists" -- people who seek out natural
cereals, home cooking and more fresh foods -- now accounts for one-fifth of
all households, up from 15 percent three years ago. NPD, a marketing firm,
compiles the study for clients like food manufacturers and sellers.

More people are also checking their food labels frequently, hoping to avoid
too much fat, cholesterol or sugar: 53 percent now say they check, up from
51 percent last year. And two-thirds of Americans say they are exercising
at least once a week.

EATING AT HOME AGAIN
Still, it's not entirely clear where the healthy habits came from. The
study found little change in the number of meals made from scratch or
ready-made meals prepared at home. At the same time, the study showed a
third straight year of decline in visits to restaurants, though data was
compiled earlier this year and a subsequent NPD study found chain
restaurant visits bumped up again in late summer.

Though many Americans still bring home takeout food, it's a trend that
peaked in 2000. The focus on healthy eating might be partly responsible,
since it's almost always easier to eat prudently when we cook for ourselves
-- in part because restaurant portions can be massive. Balzer's research
shows 38 percent of all food tonnage is consumed at restaurants, even
though they account for just 22 percent of Americans' meals. "So you know
those meals are large," he says.

A lagging economy explains part of the move away from restaurants as
families tried to save where they could. But restaurants are also starting
to shift the way they package their meals.

While the top two items sold in restaurants were still burgers and fries,
perennial favorites that they are, retailers have also moved to include
new, healthier food items in meals like salads and fruit. Balzer sees that
as a response to consumers' desires to eat fresh food without having to
store it at home. Rather than let lettuce or bananas go uneaten and
spoiled, we may be paying to let restaurants worry about freshness. "I
think the battle right now in the restaurant industry is from being the
microwave, or our food preparer, to being our refrigerator," says Balzer.

The new study results come on the heels of another study of American
obesity based on BMI data, in which the RAND Corporation found the number
of extremely overweight Americans was soaring. The RAND study tracked data
until 2000 and showed similar increases in fat that were tracked in
previous NPD surveys. To that end, Balzer is skeptical that the reversal of
our bulging trend will hold, since one year of good news is hardly enough
to let the scale gather dust. But he is optimistic the message about
American nutrition might finally be sinking in.

"The weight gains in this country had to come to an end," he says. "We
could not have people exploding."

Very interesting article, Jean. I often worry about the health of the next
generations. There are so many overweight and obese children. It is scary.
Nice to read about a different "trend," even though it is just a short one.

Carol

--
.................................................. ...........
318/254/169
64 lost since December 2002
I am a slim person in process.
.................................................. .............
"JeanC" wrote in message
...
By Jon Bonné, MSNBC


There's light at the end of the Twinkie. Americans' collective weight gain
leveled off in the past year after half a decade of us all getting fatter,
according to a new national survey of eating habits. Consumers appear to
be
focusing on healthier foods and are more worried about fats and additives.

THE RESULTS come from the NPD Group's annual "Eating Patterns in America"
study, publicly released Tuesday. The study tracked how many Americans
were
overweight based on the Body Mass Index (BMI). The percentage of
overweight
Americans has always grown, according to the study, and rose from 50
percent in 1998 to 56 percent in the 2002 study. This year revealed a drop
to 55 percent -- hardly a sign of impending twiggishness, but possibly a
hint that Americans are hearing the gospel about healthy eating.
"It's a surprise," says NPD vice president Harry Balzer, who has authored
the study for nearly 20 years. "The one thing we could count on was
Americans were going to get heavier."

Balzer is less sure about why obesity seems to have leveled off. In part,
he believes it may be that we're finally absorbing years of nutrition
labels (federally mandated since 1994), food guidelines and
recommendations
like the "Five a Day" program for vegetables.

While fewer households were interested in dieting, 35 percent of Americans
say they carefully plan to eat nutritious meals, the study found, a slight
increase. And the number of "Naturalists" -- people who seek out natural
cereals, home cooking and more fresh foods -- now accounts for one-fifth
of
all households, up from 15 percent three years ago. NPD, a marketing firm,
compiles the study for clients like food manufacturers and sellers.

More people are also checking their food labels frequently, hoping to
avoid
too much fat, cholesterol or sugar: 53 percent now say they check, up from
51 percent last year. And two-thirds of Americans say they are exercising
at least once a week.

EATING AT HOME AGAIN
Still, it's not entirely clear where the healthy habits came from. The
study found little change in the number of meals made from scratch or
ready-made meals prepared at home. At the same time, the study showed a
third straight year of decline in visits to restaurants, though data was
compiled earlier this year and a subsequent NPD study found chain
restaurant visits bumped up again in late summer.

Though many Americans still bring home takeout food, it's a trend that
peaked in 2000. The focus on healthy eating might be partly responsible,
since it's almost always easier to eat prudently when we cook for
ourselves
-- in part because restaurant portions can be massive. Balzer's research
shows 38 percent of all food tonnage is consumed at restaurants, even
though they account for just 22 percent of Americans' meals. "So you know
those meals are large," he says.

A lagging economy explains part of the move away from restaurants as
families tried to save where they could. But restaurants are also starting
to shift the way they package their meals.

While the top two items sold in restaurants were still burgers and fries,
perennial favorites that they are, retailers have also moved to include
new, healthier food items in meals like salads and fruit. Balzer sees that
as a response to consumers' desires to eat fresh food without having to
store it at home. Rather than let lettuce or bananas go uneaten and
spoiled, we may be paying to let restaurants worry about freshness. "I
think the battle right now in the restaurant industry is from being the
microwave, or our food preparer, to being our refrigerator," says Balzer.

The new study results come on the heels of another study of American
obesity based on BMI data, in which the RAND Corporation found the number
of extremely overweight Americans was soaring. The RAND study tracked data
until 2000 and showed similar increases in fat that were tracked in
previous NPD surveys. To that end, Balzer is skeptical that the reversal
of
our bulging trend will hold, since one year of good news is hardly enough
to let the scale gather dust. But he is optimistic the message about
American nutrition might finally be sinking in.

"The weight gains in this country had to come to an end," he says. "We
could not have people exploding."

Carol in NC wrote:

Very interesting article, Jean. I often worry about the health of the next
generations. There are so many overweight and obese children. It is scary.
Nice to read about a different "trend," even though it is just a short one.

Carol


Carol have you seen the really neat TV commercial about a
family eating together and doing more together as a family?

the commercial shows the family eating together and enjoying
conversation about their day and then shows them together after
dinner out riding bicycles to get some exercise.

I think it's a good use of state tax dollars since it promotes
bringing the family back together as a unit, promotes better
eating habits by cooking at home and being aware of the contents
of the food they are eating.

the only down side was the noise made by the NC restaurant
association. protest protest, they did.

"Jim Ledford" wrote in message
...



Carol have you seen the really neat TV commercial about a
family eating together and doing more together as a family?

the commercial shows the family eating together and enjoying
conversation about their day and then shows them together after
dinner out riding bicycles to get some exercise.

I think it's a good use of state tax dollars since it promotes
bringing the family back together as a unit, promotes better
eating habits by cooking at home and being aware of the contents
of the food they are eating.

the only down side was the noise made by the NC restaurant
association. protest protest, they did.

Hi Jim,

No, I haven't seen the ad, but it sounds like a good one. I'd like to see a
LOT more postive advertising to tackle unhealthy social issues.

It also doesn't surprise me about the protests from the restaurant
association. It isn't in their best interest for us to get healthy and
nutrition conscious. g

Carol
.................................................. ...........
318/254/169
64 lost since December 2002
I am a slim person in process.
.................................................. .............

Carol in NC wrote:

Jim Ledford wrote:



Carol have you seen the really neat TV commercial about a
family eating together and doing more together as a family?

the commercial shows the family eating together and enjoying
conversation about their day and then shows them together after
dinner out riding bicycles to get some exercise.

I think it's a good use of state tax dollars since it promotes
bringing the family back together as a unit, promotes better
eating habits by cooking at home and being aware of the contents
of the food they are eating.

the only down side was the noise made by the NC restaurant
association. protest protest, they did.

Hi Jim,

No, I haven't seen the ad, but it sounds like a good one. I'd like to see a
LOT more postive advertising to tackle unhealthy social issues.

they need to run the commercial more, but with state tax dollars
being really slim this year I can understand their conservation.


It also doesn't surprise me about the protests from the restaurant
association. It isn't in their best interest for us to get healthy and
nutrition conscious. g

stomped their fat promoting foot just like a little kid, they did.

Carol
.................................................. ..........
318/254/169
64 lost since December 2002
I am a slim person in process.
.................................................. ............

I'm going to do my happy dance and then say I respect and
admire you for your process. it is a good thing you are doing.

have a nice day Carol

http://personalpages.bellsouth.net/t/h/theplanter/

"Jim Ledford" wrote in message
...


I'm going to do my happy dance and then say I respect and
admire you for your process. it is a good thing you are doing.

have a nice day Carol

http://personalpages.bellsouth.net/t/h/theplanter/

Thanks, Jim...you too.

Carol
318/254/169
64 lost since December 2002
I am a slim person in process.
.................................................. ............

Carol in NC wrote:

It also doesn't surprise me about the protests from the
restaurant association. It isn't in their best interest for
us to get healthy and nutrition conscious. g

Why not?

--
-Wayne

-
"Wayne S. Hill" wrote in message
...
Carol in NC wrote:

It also doesn't surprise me about the protests from the
restaurant association. It isn't in their best interest for
us to get healthy and nutrition conscious. g

Why not?

I think that people who are nutrition conscious often prepare their own
meals, as a normal rule, in preference to eating out, since it is easier to
control quality/content that way. That doesn't promote the restaurant
industry. Not a steadfast rule, of course, and my opinion only.

If the average person who ate out demanded good quality, healthy food,
restaurants would offer that. One only has to look at the average fast food
chains "healthy" offerings longevity to see that people often prefer the
more unhealty content meals. (Remember the lean McLean? Didn't last
long...nor did low fat taco offerings at Taco Bell.) Of course, mainstream
restaurants offer more healthy choices on the menu sometimes, too, and I
applaud that.

It seems logical to me that the restaurant industry wouldn't be happy to see
ads of people eating healthy foods at home and enjoying the experience.

Carol

"JeanC" wrote in message
...
: By Jon Bonné, MSNBC

Everyone's got a study.

I found the article you posted interesting, especially in view of another
"study" published by MSNBC just two days ago that found that extreme obesity
(over 100 pounds over ideal body weight) has increased to a rate of 1 in 50
persons in the U.S. It has quadrupled since the 1980's.

http://www.msnbc.com/news/979793.asp

I starting to think that anyone can find just about anything one wants to
find in the newspaper.

David

"David S." wrote in message
news

Everyone's got a study.

I found the article you posted interesting, especially in view of another
"study" published by MSNBC just two days ago that found that extreme
obesity
(over 100 pounds over ideal body weight) has increased to a rate of 1 in
50
persons in the U.S. It has quadrupled since the 1980's.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/979793.asp

I starting to think that anyone can find just about anything one wants to
find in the newspaper.

David


It doesn't surprise me that this is the case. I'm appalled at the numbers
of extremely obese people in the US today...particularly among children.
Perhaps the general population, seeing this, is more motivated to do
something about their own weight. I know I am.

Carol

.................................................. ...........
318/254/169
64 lost since December 2002
I am a slim person in process.
.................................................. .............