Convenience Trumps Health As The Driving Force Behind How America Eats
The 21st annual Eating Patterns in America tracks eating patterns and daily consumption habits of thousands of Americans, showing that convenience is a major factor in diet selection.
The most popular in-home dinners are sandwiches (11%), chicken (10.7%), beef (8.4%), Italian dishes (5.5%), and some other family recipe (5.5%).
Most often the dinner sandwiches do include meat or chicken.
The top reasons for preparing a specific meal include:
- Ease of preparation (53%)
- Little or no planning (50%)
- Made with foods on hand (39%)
- Everyone would like (35%)
- Easy clean up (34%)
92% of Americans agree that it is important for our food to be fresh when we buy it. Last year, nearly half (47%) of in-home main meals included at least one fresh product, which has been declining from 56% in 1985.
64% of adults said they wanted to get more of whole grains in their diets, followed by 58% wanting to add more dietary fiber, 58% wanting more calcium, and 55% wanting more Vitamin C.
71% of adults said they wanted to cut down on fat in their diets, followed by 62% wanting to cut down on calories, 62% wanting less cholesterol, and 59% wanting less sugar.
49% of adults look for total calories on nutrition labels, as compared to 47% who look for total fat, 41% who look for sugars, and 37% who look for calories from fat.
http://www.npd.com/press/releases/press_061024a.html