Recession increases obesity
November 1st, 2009
A new survey finds the recession is leading to increases in obesity as people turn to calorie-rich snack and frozen foods.
As the unemployment rate inches toward 10% and U.S. consumers continue to find themselves strapped for cash, many are turning to cheaper fare to better balance their budgets. That often means fast food and canned and frozen processed foods that are higher in fat and calories and are made with refined grains and sugars.
The result: More Americans are getting fatter and becoming more at risk of getting illnesses such as diabetes.
“Eating healthy has been one of the big casualties of this economic downturn,” says Harry Balzer, chief industry analyst at NPD Group and author of the research firm’s annual “Eating Patterns in America” report. “Last year, consumers cut back on eating ‘better-for-you’ and organic foods.”
In an online survey this summer of 1,200 people about food affordability, conducted by food-industry research firm Technomic, 70% of respondents said healthier foods are increasingly difficult to afford.
“Value is what counts to consumers right now,” says Bob Goldin, executive vice president at Technomic. “And, unfortunately, in the minds of many consumers, a lot of these lower-priced options are just not as healthy, but they’re still buying them.”
Evidently snack foods and frozen pizza count as “value” as microwave use increases:
“Approximately 20% of all meals prepared in our homes from 1990 to 2007 involved the use of a microwave,” says Mr. Balzer. But in 2008, microwave usage rose to 30%. NPD Group, which has been following the microwaving habits of American consumers for nearly two decades, attributes that gain to the troubled economy.
As a result, obesity increases:
Not surprising, then, are the rising rates of obesity and diabetes. The obesity rate climbed more than one percentage point to 26.4% in September from a year earlier, according to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, a measure of U.S. health compiled by the Gallup research firm and wellness-program provider Healthways.
Entry Filed under: Public Health