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03.31.2011

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How America Eats

<div style="display:inline; float:left; width:100px; height: 200px; margin: 20px 10px 10px 10px; ">1/6</div><div style="padding: 10px; "><p>In 2004, we introduced our first national study on obesity with these still-relevant thoughts: "The experts all agree. Obesity is a national health problem of epidemic proportions. Yet, while public health officials, policy analysts, nutritionists, the media, retailers and manufacturers watch the number of overweight and obese individuals increase, they remain unable to answer a very important question. Namely, how is it that most overweight individuals appear unable to address their 'problem?'"</p>
<p>Our current study <a href = "http://www.hartman-group.com/publications/reports/how-america-eats" ><strong>How America Eats: The Crucial Role of Food Culture Inside Weight Management</strong></a> provides far-reaching insights on this question by examining the complex interplay between not just <em>what</em> Americans are eating, but <em>how</em> they eat.
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<div style="display:inline; float:left; width:100px; height: 300px; margin:10px;">2/6</div><div style="display: inline;"><p>Today, whether it's the recession or other crises capturing the media spotlight, the topics of obesity and weight management remain a constant companion to our social and cultural conversation — a conversation that sounds remarkably similar to the one started in 2004. </p>
<p>After all, with two in three adults and one in three children overweight or obese, what other issue has pushed its way onto the White House lawn? As testament to obesity's scale, we find First Lady Michelle Obama advocating a healthy food doctrine to the food and beverage industry, while simultaneously forming "Let's Move."</p>

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<div style="display:inline; float:left; width:100px; margin:10px; height: 300px;">3/6</div><div><p>The constant social focus on obesity has not been lost on average Americans. While in 2004 consumers displayed a certain lack of awareness for their own personal weight issues, we see a growing adaptation and recognition of many issues linked to obesity. Today, consumers appear to have a more accurate view of their potentially bulging waistlines, as well as a growing understanding that it's not necessarily <strong>what</strong> they eat that leads to weight issues, but <strong>how</strong> they eat.
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<div style="display:inline; float:left; width:100px; margin:10px; height: 300px;">4/6</div><div><p>Although consumers attribute the high incidence of obesity to a number of factors, blame is placed squarely on the individual. Major causal factors derived from ethnographic analyses that link to this view relate to <strong>food occasions</strong> (where we eat, who we eat with, and when we eat), as well as objective (<strong>what we eat</strong>) and emotional (<strong>why we eat</strong>: spontaneous, craving, indulging) constructs, all of which influence cultural eating habits.
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<div style="display:inline; float:left; width:100px; margin:10px; height: 300px;">5/6</div><div><p>Related to how they navigate their daily lives in the context of food culture, the world of weight management is an epic American tale of self-improvement achieved through understanding and changing one's orientation to food.
<p>Consumers use "watching" and "trying" as ways to describe the process of weight management: "Watching what I (or we) eat" or "Trying to eat more healthy." The weight management journey can be segmented among three groups of consumers within the population: The Impulsive (33%), the Conflicted (47%) and the Intuitive (20%). </p>
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<div style="display:inline; float:left; width:100px; margin:10px; height: 300px;"> 6/6</div><div><p>Depending on where consumers are in their weight management journey, almost half (47%) are conflicted today in terms of how to manage and effectively deal with factors that lead to obesity. A large part of unwinding the complexity of today's "obesity problem" lies in acknowledging the interplay between food culture and consumer attitudes toward weight management practices.
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To receive this slideshow in PowerPoint format, please contact Blaine Becker,
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<a href="mailto:blaine@hartman-group.com?Subject=PPT Request: How America Eats">blaine@hartman-group.com</a>
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For more on How America Eats, see our <a href="http://www.hartman-group.com/publications/reports/how-america-eats">study overview</a>
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