There is a clear dichotomy between the state of the nation’s health as reported in the media – where negative news stories are rife – and consumers’ perceptions of their own healthiness. However, despite consumers being generally confident that their habits are healthy across a range of different factors – namely diet, weight, fitness, alcohol consumption, and mental wellbeing – only 20% of adults deem their habits to be healthy across all of these. There are a number of obstacles in the path of holistically healthy lifestyles, with the most commonly cited barriers being lack of motivation, lack of time, and expense.

Encouragingly, however, consumers are very open to guidance and advice, helping them to cut through the all the noise around health and steering them towards healthier choices. Interestingly, both the carrot and the stick approach appeal. Rewards for healthy behaviour resonate widely, but most consumers also support taxing of unhealthy food and drink, highlighting public awareness of the urgent need to tackle the obesity problem in the UK (United Kingdom).