More information appears every few weeks to question the trend of continuously looking 'upstream' for half-baked solutions to the increasing prevalence of obesity (such as changing what's in vending machines). What is needed is a more balanced, data-driven approach to developing programs and strategies that focus on the every day opportunities (places, times and frames of mind) people have to make food choices.
Last week I noted research documenting that there are over 200 opportunities every day to influence the choices people make about eating behaviors. Now more data from Food Navigator:
Snacking has become so commonplace in the United States that it is now a major source of nutrition for most Americans, according to a new report by Datamonitor, which reveals that children remain the most frequent snackers at a time when childhood obesity has never been higher...
According to Datamonitor, in a year, the typical US consumer consumes 231 morning snacks, 283 afternoon snacks and 261 evening snacks. Children aged 6-13 consumed on average 840 snacks per year in 2005, which corresponds to over 2 snacks per day. Snacking frequencies peak for 14-24 year olds, who consumed 878 snacks in 2005...
Although Americans snack throughout the day, it is in the afternoon and evening when cravings tend to be higher, with 23 percent reporting they never snack in the morning, compared to 10 percent and 16 percent who claim to never snack in the afternoon and evening respectively.
These types insights give me more ideas for potential intervention strategies than expert recommendations I have been seeing lately. Some consumer market researchers see the same puzzle of information and trends to solve and offer concrete suggestions.
Technorati Tags: Behavior Change, Food Marketing, Obesity, Snack Foods
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