Consumers Confused Regarding Dietary Guidance

Although an increasing number of messages concerning health and nutrition reach consumers via documents from federal agencies, food labels and other sources, the clarity and impact of those messages remains an area of concern, according to a new report published by the International Food Information Council (IFIC), Washington, D.C.

The new report, "Food & Health Survey: Consumer Attitudes Toward Food, Nutrition & Health," provides insight to specific barriers to healthful eating. For example, three-quarters of the respondents, who were all 18 years of age or older, described their health status as "good" to "excellent." However, just over half of the respondents described themselves as "somewhat" or "extremely" satisfied with their health status.

The IFIC report indicates that consumers have a desire to change their diet and resultant health for the better. For example, 57% of respondents noted that they had made a change in the last six months to improve the healthfulness of their diet. Two-thirds of that group had made the change in a desire to help them lose weight.

But consumer disconnects sometimes revealed themselves in the data. "We've found that while consumers are getting the message that they need to make positive dietary and lifestyle changes, putting that advice into practice has been challenging and confusing for many of them," says Susan T. Borra, president, IFIC Foundation.

For example, two-thirds of consumers are concerned about the amount and types of fat in their diets. However, when asked to rate the relative healthfulness of different types of fats, 30% to 50% of respondents said that all fats were neither healthful nor unhealthful. "Furthermore," notes the report, "close to 4 in 10 consumers aware of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats say they were unhealthful despite dietary guidance to consume more of these fats." IFIC notes that some key barriers to change include:

* Consumers' lack of understanding of calories and current weight status--9 out of 10 consumers are unable to provide an accurate estimate of their recommended daily caloric intake.

* Three-fourths of consumers consider themselves "overweight" when they actually rate as "obese" based on body-mass index.

* Taste and price, rather than healthfulness, influence product-purchase decisions.

* Only one-third of consumers believe that the health information they receive is consistent.

The report notes that some opportunities for further clarification of dietary messages include expanded exposure to MyPyramid customized diets and food packaging messages, including a focus on the Nutrition Facts panel. To view the complete report, see http://www.ific.org/research/upload/2006foodandhealthsurvey1.pdf.