“Despite the wide availability of affordable fresh food in the country, Brazilians are increasingly consuming processed low-nutritional food products, skipping meals, and focusing on convenient products. They are making up for bad food habits by exercising more and doing more sports, but without a balanced diet this might not be enough. Middle-aged adults and seniors, on the other hand, are likely to exercise less, but they focus more on nutrition, and also prioritize activities that they associate with wellbeing, especially activities that contribute to a better mental/emotional state. Despite the fact that busy young adults are less willing to change their lifestyle in order to improve their health, companies can tap into experiences and sensations related to emotional health in categories such as food, drinks, cosmetics, and clothing.”
This report will answer the following questions:
Do Brazilians have healthy eating habits? What are their current eating habits?
Do Brazilians exercise frequently? How can they be encouraged to exercise more?
How well-informed do Brazilians think they are about their health? Does this have an impact on a healthy lifestyle?
What factors do Brazilians consider to be most important in order to have good health and why?
Definitions
Healthy lifestyle refers to people’s habits and behaviors in relation to their health. The main factors covered by this report are:
Balanced diet: food needed for optimum body nutrition, such as fruit and vegetables, milk and dairy products, meat, as well as fat and sweets, in moderation. It is not very common for people to consider all these food groups on their daily meals.
Quality of life: it is a wide concept, but in general it can be defined as where people think they are in life, in a cultural context, which is to do with their goals, expectations, standards, and concerns. The concept is closely related to social interactions with family and friends, and activities such as education, work, and leisure. The World Health Organization considers physical and psychological aspects, level of independence, social relationships, environment, and religion to assess quality of life.
Wellbeing: associated with the perception of a good physical, mental, and social health. The expression “estar de bem com a vida” (“being content with life”) refers to the feeling of having all these aspects in harmony.
A healthy lifestyle is also a subjective concept, especially when related to emotional aspects. In general, the focus is in the attempt that people make (or not) to maintain a balanced physical/mental health and how this is reflected in the behavior in society.
Abbreviations
| ABIA | Brazilian Association of Food Industries |
| BRFSS | Risk Factor Surveillance System |
| CNI | Brazilian National Confederation of Industry |
| GMN | Global Market Navigator |
| GNPD | Global New Products Database |
| IBGE | Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics |
| IHRSA | International Health, Racquet & Sports Club Association |
| ISMA | Stress Management Association |
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