The fad diet that’s always in style: healthy eating

The percentage of adults on a diet has decreased by 10 percentage points since 1990, while the percentage of Americans eating health-ier has increased. At least once in a two-week period, over 70 percent of Americans are consuming reduced-fat foods, and over half of them are eating reduced-calorie, whole-grain or fortified foods. In addition to these foods, other “better for you” foods consumed include diet, light, reduced-cholesterol, reduced-sodium, caffeine-free, sugar-free, fortified, organic and low-carb varieties. The average American has at least two “better for you” products a day, according National Eating Trends, a study conducted by Port Washington, N.Y., research company NPD Group.

Healthy eating to consumers today tends to boil down to basic mathematics. For past generations, dieting was about subtracting bad things from your diet, but today healthy eating is more a matter of adding the good. More consumers are looking to add whole grains, dietary fiber, omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants and probiotics, according to the NPD Dieting Monitor, which examines top-of-mind dieting and nutrition-related issues facing consumers. Awareness of these nutritional food elements continues to grow. In 2005, 36 percent of consumers surveyed said they were trying to get more omega-3 fatty acids in their diets, and the most recent NPD Dieting Monitor shows that number increasing to 46 percent.

The ongoing concern about health appears to be paying dividends. Recent U.S. government studies confirm obesity leveling off, and most recently, childhood obesity stabilizing. Even with concerns about the economic downturn, eating healthy still remains top-of-mind with consumers. According to a recent NPD Fast Check Survey on economic conditions, adults who identify themselves as financially worse-off compared to last year said that eating healthy still had the greatest impact on the food and beverages their household selects. Saving money ranked a close second.

Teens prefer real friends to online ones

The average teen may spend 11.5 hours a week online, but not everything is more appealing to teens in an online format. When asked a series of “would you rather” questions, teens chose reality over virtual reality in many aspects of their lives. Given the choice, teens would rather have real  friends (91 percent) than online friends (9 percent), date someone from school (87 percent) than someone from the Internet (13 percent) and shop in a store (82 percent) than shop online (18 percent). Conversely, teens would rather get their locker vandalized (63 percent) than their homepage (37 percent) and IM a friend (54 percent) over calling (46 percent), according to Los Angeles research company OTX’s study Teen Topix.

Twenty-four percent of teens are spending more than 15 hours a week online. Instant messaging came up as the most frequent activity, followed by visiting social networking sites, e-mail, searching and visiting virtual community sites.

Fifty-eight percent of teens have made a purchase online. On average, teens who make purchases online are spending $46 per month, and 26 percent of teens are spending $50 or more. Clothes and music are the two most popular online purchases, followed by books, electronics and DVDs. The bedroom (36 percent) and living room (24 percent) are the places teens are most likely to have their primary computer. Teens with their primary computer in their bedrooms are more likely to be heavy Internet users (15+ hours per week) and spend money online.

Teens are, however, aware of the risks associated with online life: 78 percent of teens are concerned about computer viruses, followed by identity theft (67 percent), unauthorized access to personal information (65 percent), scams (60 percent) and spam (60 percent).

The study also confirms the popularity of social networking sites, with 95 percent of teens saying they have belonged to a social networking site at some point. The average teen has signed up for over four social networking sites and currently belongs to two. Teens report learning about music, other Web sites, movies, TV shows and new trends from social networking sites. Teens are receptive to advertising on these sites, where the majority of teens learn about financial services (63 percent), movies in theaters (59 percent), mobile services and accessories (58 percent), travel (57 percent) and other Web sites (53 percent).

Personal care products go au naturel

When it comes time to choose personal care items, more and more consumers are jumping on the natural bandwagon, especially women and Hispanics. Research by Chicago research company Mintel reveals that the natural and organic personal care products market is valued at $465 million, up 35 percent since 2005 ($345 million).

The rising popularity of organic products and natural ingredients has prompted retailers to stock more of these products. Mintel’s Global New Products Database shows a 53 percent increase in new organic and/or all-natural product launches in the past two years (from 554 in 2005 to 846 in 2007). Realizing the success of natural and organic products, large retail chains have begun to partner with natural and organic manufacturers to offer such products under an exclusive and limited time period. Such is the case with Walgreens and the Yes To Carrots brand, as well as Target with the Erbaviva line of products.

Other mainstream companies are utilizing natural ingredients in their brands and opting for certification to differentiate them-selves from the competition. “The recent drive toward healthy and green living has consumers placing a high degree of trust in the ‘all-natural’ claim for personal care products,” said Christopher Haack, senior analyst at Mintel.

The appeal of natural and organic personal care products stretches to both men and women, but women are typically the main users. Mintel also identifies Hispanics as a growing market for natural and organic personal care: 74 percent of Hispanics’ total personal care product purchases were classified as being natural and organic.