FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:Nancy White
The Natural Marketing Institute
215.513.7300 ext. 225
Nancy.White@NMIsolutions.com

Obesity, Weight Loss Concerns Define Marketplace
Consumers affected across segment. Most successful manufacturers address consumer lifestyle needs.

Harleysville, Pa. (November 8, 2004) – The Natural Marketing Institute (NMI), the leading provider of strategic consulting and market research services within the health, wellness, and sustainability industries, today expanded on one of the trends it has identified as having a significant effect on the health and wellness marketplace. This trend is the tenth in the series of "NMI's Top 10 Trends of 2004."

Trend #10: The Weight Loss/Diet Epidemic: It's All About Lifestyle
According to trends culled from NMI's most recent data, overweight and obesity concerns affect consumers across demographic and lifestyle classifications. Low-carb dieting also appears to have reached a plateau, with 22 percent of the U.S. population reporting they used "eating fewer carbohydrates" in managing their weight in 2004, compared with 24 percent who responded similarly in 2003.

"The weight loss market has been an abundant area of opportunity for marketers," said Maryellen Molyneaux, President of NMI. "However, manufacturers must remain attuned to the latest nutritional data and consumer information, rather than continuing to bombard consumers with products that are not meaningful to them. Especially in the area of low-carb, product lifecycles have been shortened dramatically, probably owing to the barrage of new products that hit the market in 2003 and 2004. There may still be room for new low-carb products, but these items must be relevant and effective for consumers who are actively managing their weight," Molyneaux said. She noted that of those who have limited their carbohydrate intake to maintain or lose weight, only nine percent reported using low-carb packaged goods.

Lifestyle factors appear to be critical to the long-term success of those seeking to manage weight. Of the 23 weight loss methods NMI tracks, exercise was the most popular weight management aid, with 38 percent of consumers stating that they exercised regularly and consistently to lose weight. Of those consumers who named exercise as part of their weight loss regimen, 52 percent indicated that they had been extremely or very successful in their efforts. Consumers cited other lifestyle changes when managing their weight. For example, 35 percent of those surveyed stated that they consumed smaller portions at mealtimes; 27 percent are controlling their sugar intake; and 22 percent noted they were eating smaller more frequent meals in their attempt to manage their weight.

NMI's Top Trends of 2004 are the result of the company's annual Health and Wellness Trends Database™ and LOHAS Consumer Trends Database™ research projects, based on research studies from over 15,000 U.S. consumer households. The databases are nationally projectable to the general population and statistically valid to +/-2%.

###

NMI is a strategic consulting, market research, and business development company specializing in the health, wellness, and sustainable marketplace.  This release is the third in a series of eleven articulating NMI's Top 10 Trends of 2004.  For more information visit us on-line at www.NMIsolutions.com/news.html.

< back to Press Releases main page