Friday, April 29, 2005

Consumers Prefer New USDA Food Pyramid to Old Pyramid by Two- to-One Margin

Results from a nationwide survey show that within one week of the USDA's unveiling of MyPyramid on April 19, 2005, 40% of Americans -- 87 million adults -- report they have seen the new food pyramid. Most consumers who have seen the new pyramid believe the design is equal to or better than the previous pyramid, originally released in 1992.

However, awareness of MyPyramid varies widely by demographic characteristics; minorities, consumers under the age of 30, and those earning less than $75,000 per year are less likely than other consumers to have seen the design for MyPyramid.

Lawrence Shiman, vice-president at Opinion Dynamics, says "The USDA must make a special effort to reach minorities and younger adults if there is to be any hope of changing diet and physical activity behaviors within these groups."

The Opinion Dynamics survey, entitled "Consumer Attitudes Toward MyPyramid," polled 1000 adults. The survey was conducted independently and not funded by any outside source.

    Key findings include:
Of those that have seen the new design, 28% believe that it is more
useful than the old design, 14% believe it is less useful, 46% believe
it is equally useful, and the rest are unsure.

By a nearly three-to-one margin, women prefer the new design to the old
pyramid (30% to 11%). Men's reactions are more mixed (26% prefer the
new design, while 20% preferred the old design).

People over the age of 55 (44%), and those with household incomes over
$75,000 per year (49%) are particularly likely to have seen the new
pyramid. Only 28% of those between the ages of 18 and 29, and only 29%
of minorities have seen the new pyramid.

Steve - Should we be satisfied with 46% of those polled saying it is equally as
effective as the last Pyramid? Considering that the last Pyramid was considered
an utter failure, I think not. These statistics show exactly how and why the new Pyramid
is already a failure. The percentage of minorities and people of lower income exposed
to the Pyramid already lags far behind those of white ethnicity and higher income.

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