The Latest on U.S. Weight Loss -- The Dieting Monitor from NPD Foodworld

You don’t have to go to South Beach or Scarsdale to see that fad diets are more popular than ever with American consumers. Whether they prefer cabbage soup or grapefruit or eat only what the Russian Air Force eats, NPD now has the Dieting Monitor, an in-depth tracker designed to to help those in the food and beverage industry understand how their products and menus can cater to the growing population of dieters.

“New diets seem to pop up every day. Food industry operators and manufacturers need to understand how their products and menus can accommodate all different consumers,” said Angelina Drnek, product manager, NPD Foodworld. “The Dieting Monitor tells them not only which branded diets consumers are aware of, but also which ones consumers are actually on."

The Dieting Monitor answers questions like the following: Do diets, such as South Beach and others, hold water or are they a flash in the pan? When it comes to proteins, carbohydrates, fats and trans-fats, are consumers consciously monitoring how much of these are in the foods they eat? Are they actually reading labels and paying attention? How extensive is their level of physical activity? How have people changed their eating habits regarding certain food categories now versus last year?

The Dieting Monitor offers regular updates on a variety of current dieting and health-related issues that continually plague the food manufacturing and foodservice industries. It is the first tracking tool of its kind that looks at consumers' awareness of and participation in branded diets, such as Atkins, Weight Watchers and others, as well as their label reading behavior, nutrient intake concerns and much more!  Plus information from the Dieting Monitor can be used by other industries with interest in consumers' dieting habits, such as book publishers, home appliances companies, makers of home fitness equipment and others.

The Dieting Monitor aids in proactive decision-making, by helping subscribers do the following:

• Identify emerging branded diets and evaluate the significance of existing trends
• Utilize information on which foods consumers state that eat more or less of versus year ago as a barometer for product demand
• Gauge consumer concern about specific nutritional elements found in food products
• Understand consumers’ habits related to reading nutritional labels
• Find out consumers’ levels of exercise and daily activity
  

For more information about the Dieting Monitor, please contact your client development representative or Angelina Drnek at 847-692-1853 or angelina_drnek@npd.com.