Nutrition message still not reaching Americans

The findings of FDA's latest survey on health and nutrition underscore that while US consumers have good health intentions, this does not carry through to their dietary habits.

The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP) worked with the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to track American attitudes, knowledge and behavior regarding nutrition and physical activity in the Health and Diet Survey: Dietary Guidelines Supplement.

The results reveal there is still room for food manufacturers to leverage consumers' good intentions and desire to be healthy, with easy-to-understand healthy food offerings.

According to the finding, most respondents either strongly agreed or agreed with the statements, "Healthy eating habits are very important to me" (95 percent) and "I am actively trying to eat a healthy diet" (90 percent).

FDA found in the survey that women were more likely than men to agree that nutrition is important and were also more likely than men to take on healthier habits. Of the respondents, 70 percent of women agreed that nutrition is important to take into consideration while food shopping, while only 54 percent of men thought so.

Despite increased health marketing during their generation, the youngest group of the survey's respondents were the least likely to consider nutrition very seriously while grocery shopping.

In the 18-34 age bracket, 52 percent considered nutrition to be very important, followed by 64 percent of those in the 35-54 bracket, 69 percent for 55-64 year olds, and 71 percent of those 65 or older.