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Aging Baby Boomers May Accelerate Positive Attitudes on Diet and Nutrition in Next Decade

FOR RELEASE JANUARY 3, 2000

Contact: Tom Ryan, Lori Ferme or Bridget McManamon
800/877-1600, ext. 4894, 4802 or 4769
E-mail: media@eatright.org
(Please do not publish/broadcast contact information)

AGING BABY BOOMERS MAY ACCELERATE POSITIVEATTITUDES ON DIET AND NUTRITION IN NEXT DECADE

CHICAGO — Americans' attitudes toward the importance of diet and nutrition inched forward during the 1990s — but at a slower rate than the fitness-crazed 1980s, according to the American Dietetic Association's new national public opinion survey, Nutrition and You: Trends 2000.

But in the first decade of the new century, as much of the Baby Boomer generation pushes past age 50, experts predict diet and nutrition concerns may begin to accelerate at a faster pace.

Since 1991, ADA's biennial nutrition trends survey has grouped people into three general categories, based on their answers to a number of different questions, to track the evolution of Americans' attitudes toward food and nutrition:

• I'm Already Doing It: people who say they have made significant adjustments in their eating behavior to achieve a healthy, nutritious diet.
  Twenty-eight percent fall into this category - up 2 percent since 1997 and more than at any time since the first survey in 1991.

• I Know I Should, But…: people who feel they know what healthful eating behavior is and that they should eat a healthful diet, but for one reason or another have failed to implement that behavior in their diets.
  Forty percent are in this category - up two percent from 1991.

• Don't Bother Me: people who may or may not feel informed about healthful eating, but for whom it is not a concern.
  Nearly a third of Americans — 32 percent — fall into this category, down 4 percent from 1991 and significantly below the 40 percent of the two prior surveys in 1997 and 1995.

"The figures show modest gains since 1991, with dips and blips in between," says Sheila Courington, who has led the research team at Wirthlin Worldwide in conducting four of the five ADA surveys. "The big change in attitudes on diet and nutrition came in the 1980s. Red meat was out. Oat bran was in. Lowering our cholesterol was a national obsession.

"Entrenched attitudes on diet and nutrition didn't go away in the 1980s. They were always there below the surface, and in time they crystallized."

The following chart indicates the percentage of Americans in the three categories in each of ADA's national surveys, beginning in 1991:

"It's surprising in some respects that attitudes on diet and nutrition did not change more in the 1990s, given the sheer amount of information available to people," says Cleveland registered dietitian and ADA spokesperson Cindy Moore.

"There is more nutrition-themed advertising, information on food labels, dietary news on network newscasts, coverage in newspapers and magazines. And now, many Web sites are devoted to health, diet and nutrition. But maybe there's a limit to how much people can absorb."

Courington adds: "Based on the ADA surveys and research we've done for other clients, it seems that Americans develop an acquired immunity to information. We tune out. We can't pay attention to everything, so we pay attention only to what's salient and screen out the rest."

So — what is in store for the next decade?

"The aging population likely will display more positive attitudes about diet and nutrition," says Moore, herself a member of the Baby Boom generation. "As we age, we naturally become more concerned about our mortality. And everyone wants to be able to enjoy the feelings of health, energy and endurance we had in our younger years.

"Baby Boomers are just starting to hit 50, but as we move into 2000 and beyond, we can anticipate gradual, increasing movement into the ranks of I'm doing all I can to achieve a balanced diet and nutrition. "

The 70,000-member American Dietetic Association is the world's largest organization of food and nutrition professionals. The Chicago-based ADA serves the public by promoting optimal nutrition, health and well-being. For the most timely, complete food and nutrition information, visit ADA's Web site.

Editor's note: For more information about ADA's Nutrition and You: Trends 2000 survey, for a copy of the full results or to interview an ADA spokesperson, contact ADA's Public Relations Team at 800/877-1600, ext. 4802, 4894 or 4769.

Survey results are based on telephone interviews with a nationally representative sample of 792 adults conducted in October 1999 by Wirthlin Worldwide. The survey has a confidence interval of plus-or-minus 3.5 percent in 95 out of 100 cases.