Table of Contents
Introduction and Abbreviations
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- Definitions
- Consumer research
- ACORN
- Abbreviations
Executive Summary
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- Taking responsibility for health and the need to diet
- The growing problem of obesity in the UK
- Expenditure on food, reduced fat/reduced calorie food and slimming food
- A growing demand for reduced fat/reduced calorie foods
- Slimming foods are not widely used
- Diet plans and clubs
- Regular exercise is the favoured component of a weight loss regime
- Too much emphasis is placed on appearance
- Fuelling future growth
Influential Factors
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- Incidence of being overweight or obese
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- Figure 1: Incidence of being overweight or obese among men in England, by age group, 1997 and 2001
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- Figure 2: Incidence of being overweight or obese among women in England, by age group, 1997 and 2001
- Health
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- Figure 3: Health issues of concern to consumers, September 1998, December 2001 and December 2003
- The consumer and food
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- Figure 4: Agreement with lifestyle statements about food and eating habits, 1998-2003
- The incidence of dieting and responsibility for health
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- Figure 5: Adults who are trying to slim, 1980-2003
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- Figure 6: Agreement with lifestyle statements about diet and health, 1998-2003
- Looks and appearance
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- Figure 7: Agreement with lifestyle statements about personal appearance and self-perception, 1998-2003
- Health and fitness: a nation of gym-goers
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- Figure 8: Membership of private health and fitness clubs in the UK, 1998-2003
- The holidays incentive
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- Figure 9: Frequency of holidays taken abroad and in the UK, September 2002
- The influence of the media and celebrities
- Demographic trends
- The influence of population shifts
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- Figure 10: Trends and projections in the age structure of the UK male population, 1998-2007
- Figure 11: Trends and projections in the age structure of the UK female population, 1998-2007
- Income and expenditure
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- Figure 12: PDI and consumer expenditure, at constant 1998 prices, 1998-2007
- Systems dieting and diet foods
Market Background
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- Figure 13: Expenditure on food for in-home consumption, by value, 1998-2003
- Figure 14: Indexed expenditure on food for in-home consumption, 1998-2003
- Reduced fat and reduced calorie foods
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- Figure 15: Estimated UK retail sales of RFRC foods*, by value, 1998-2003
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- Figure 16: Estimated UK retail sales of RFRC foods, by sector and value, 2000 and 2002
- Slimming foods
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- Figure 17: UK retail sales of slimming foods, by value, 1998-2003
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The Supply Structure
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- Selected diet plans and clubs
- The Atkins Diet
- Fatmanslim
- The GI Diet
- The New High Protein Healthy Fast Food Diet
- The No-grain Diet
- The pH Diet
- The Rosemary Conley Plan
- Shape-Up
- Slimming World
- The South Beach Diet
- Weight Watchers
- The X-Plan
- Dieting on the Internet
- Reduced fat/reduced calorie foods
- Slimming Foods
The Consumer
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- Usage of diet food/drink products
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- Figure 18: Agreement with the statements ‘I use diet food and drink products’ and ‘Most of the time I am trying to lose weight’, by gender and age, 2003
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- Figure 19: Agreement with the statements ‘I use diet food and drink products’ and ‘Most of the time I am trying to lose weight’, by socio-economic status and region, 2003
- Exercise is the preferred method to lose weight
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- Figure 20: Action taken to lose weight, October 2003
- Pre-/no family males in a couple consider reduced consumption
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- Figure 21: Possible action taken by men to lose weight, October 2003
- Diets/diet foods popular with older women
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- Figure 22: Possible action taken by women to lose weight, October 2003
- Scope to increase penetration of RFRC foods among men
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- Figure 23: Popular actions taken to lose weight, by gender, age and socio-economic status, October 2003
- Relative affluence linked to usage of a gym
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- Figure 24: Popular action taken to lose weight, by presence of children, lifestage and Mintel’s Special Groups, October 2003
- Smaller households need to be reached with the diet message
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- Figure 25: Popular action taken to lose weight, by marital status, working status and household size, October 2003
- Less strenuous strategies of weight loss pursued in the North?
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- Figure 26: Popular action taken to lose weight, by region and ACORN categories, October 2003
- New media and TV well suited to weight loss messages
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- Figure 27: Popular action taken to lose weight, by supermarkets regularly used, hours per day spent watching commercial TV and media usage, October 2003
- Women more likely to reduce consumption
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- Figure 28: Other popular action taken to lose weight, by gender, age and socio-economic status, October 2003
- Families would pursue a strategy of reduced consumption
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- Figure 29: Other popular action taken to lose weight, by presence of children, lifestage and Mintel’s Special Groups, October 2003
- Presence of a spouse/partner encourages focus on food consumption
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- Figure 30: Other popular action taken to lose weight, by marital status, working status and household size, October 2003
- Relative affluence and reducing consumption
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- Figure 31: Other popular action taken to lose weight, by region and ACORN categories, October 2003
- The informed Marks & Spencer shopper
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- Figure 32: Other popular action taken to lose weight, by supermarkets regularly used, hours per day spent watching commercial TV and media usage, October 2003
- Over one in three feel that maintaining a sensible weight is important
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- Figure 33: Attitudes towards weight loss diets and dieting, October 2003
- Men and women agree that too much attention is paid to diet
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- Figure 34: Popular attitudes towards weight loss diets and dieting, by gender, age and socio-economic status, October 2003
- Families are an important target
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- Figure 35: Popular attitudes towards weight loss diets and dieting, by presence of children, lifestage and Mintel’s Special Groups, October 2003
- Workers feel too much attention paid to diet but likely to act
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- Figure 36: Popular attitudes towards weight loss diets and dieting, by marital status, working status and household size, October 2003
- Southerners tiring of the vanity aspect
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- Figure 37: Popular attitudes towards weight loss diets and dieting, by region and ACORN categories, October 2003
- Broadsheet readers take a pragmatic view
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- Figure 38: Popular attitudes towards weight loss diets and dieting, by supermarkets regularly used, hours per day spent watching commercial TV and media usage, October 2003
- Attitudes and actions taken to lose weight
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- Figure 39: Attitudes towards weight loss/dieting according to actions that might be taken to lose weight, October 2003
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- Figure 40: Attitudes towards weight loss/dieting according to actions that might be taken to lose weight, October 2003
Reasons for Dieting and Identifying Target Groups
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- Health reasons top the list
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- Figure 41: Reasons for going on a weight loss diet, October 2003
- Men and retirees least likely to consider dieting…
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- Figure 42: Those who would not diet, by selected demographics, October 2003
- …but among most likely potential dieters to diet for health reasons
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- Figure 43: Popular reasons for undertaking a weight loss diet, by gender, age and socio-economic status, October 2003
- Relative affluence, youth and self-esteem
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- Figure 44: Popular reasons for undertaking a weight loss diet, by presence of children, lifestage and Mintel’s Special Groups, October 2003
- Working respondents motivated by short-terms benefits of weight loss
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- Figure 45: Popular reasons for undertaking a weight loss diet, by marital status, working status and household size, October 2003
- The South as the home of the potential dieter
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- Figure 46: Popular reasons for undertaking a weight loss diet, by region and ACORN categories, October 2003
- Seasonal TV campaigns could pay off
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- Figure 47: Popular reasons for undertaking a weight loss diet, by supermarkets regularly used, media usage and hours per day spent watching commercial TV, October 2003
- Identifying targets
- Non-dieters
- Pragmatists
- Health-conscious Sceptics
- Diet Divas
- Men and health
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- Figure 48: Consumer typologies, by gender, age and socio-economic status, October 2003
- The importance of families
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- Figure 49: Consumer typologies, by presence of children, lifestage and Mintel’s Special Groups, October 2003
- Declining household size must be considered
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- Figure 50: Consumer typologies, by marital status, working status and household size, October 2003
- The North West and the health angle
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- Figure 51: Consumer typologies, by region and ACORN categories, October 2003
- The potential of new media cannot be underestimated
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- Figure 52: Consumer typologies, by media usage, supermarkets regularly used and hours per day spent watching commercial TV, October 2003
- Optimum targeting of dieters…
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- Figure 53: Dieting groups, by CHAID analysis, October 2003
- …and how they might be reached
- Exercise/non-diet
- Reduce consumption
- Specific diet or purchase
The Future
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- Considerable potential for diet aids…
- …but convincing consumers will be key to success
- A tougher stance on advertising to children?
- Paying for quick fixes
Forecast
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- Scenario 1
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- Figure 54: Forecast of dieting typologies, Scenario 1, 2003-07
- Scenario 2
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- Figure 55: Forecast of dieting typologies, Scenario 2, 2003-07
- Scenario 3
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- Figure 56: Forecast of dieting typologies, Scenario 3, 2003-07
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