Americans 'Weigh In' on Obesity, Diet and Wellness; Yankelovich Unveils New Preventative Healthcare Study at CHPA Conference.

WASHINGTON -- Even though a staggering 72% of Americans are overweight -- and 39% are considered obese -- weight loss remains a relatively low priority for U.S. consumers, according to the 2005 Yankelovich Preventative Healthcare Study released today. The Yankelovich research, which polled 6,000 consumers, reveals that only 30% of Americans are actively trying to lose weight. Equally surprising, when respondents were asked to rank the top 10 ways to maintain health, diet (39%) and exercise (34%) didn't even make the list. Instead, "maintaining personal hygiene and cleanliness" (64%), "maintaining a positive attitude" (58%) and "maintaining/cultivating good family relationships (53%) topped the list, with diet and exercise placing a distant 13th and 17th, respectively.

Steve Bodhaine, Group President of Yankelovich and Director of The Segmentation Company (TSC), a division of Yankelovich, which provides proprietary needs-based segmentation solutions, presented the findings today at the Consumer Healthcare Products Association's Regulatory and Scientific Conference in Washington, DC. At a time when consumers can turn to more than 100,000 sources for healthcare information, Bodhaine said the findings clearly indicate the need to sift through the clutter and look beyond the numbers to combat high rates of obesity and other preventable diseases, improve overall wellness and control rapidly rising healthcare costs.

"Mass marketing techniques are ineffective in motivating the general public to adopt preventative healthcare behaviors," said Bodhaine. "If you succeed in helping an additional 5% of Americans adopt a preventative healthcare program, you can improve wellness and decrease healthcare costs by tens of billions of dollars. Precisely targeted information and tools are the requirements to drive this effective, lasting attitudinal and behavior change."

Barriers to Prevention

According to the study, 29% of adults have felt healthy and full of energy for only two weeks or less during the past month, including 9% who have not experienced health and energy at all. The least healthy tend to be unmarried, under the age of 40 or have children under the age of six. Almost 75% have a body mass index (BMI) of 25 or greater, considered overweight by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The two main barriers to achieving and maintaining a healthy weight tend to be motivation and education, noted Susan Lee Simpson, Ph.D., Senior Account Director at Yankelovich. In terms of motivation, major barriers include:

--Dislike of exercise - 22%

--Enjoying junk food too much - 21%

--Lack of will power to stick to a plan - 15%

Barriers arising from misunderstanding or lack of education include:

--Inability to afford a successful weight loss program - 20%

--Insurance not covering weight-loss programs - 19%

--Inability to figure out the best way to lose weight - 14%

"We are battling a lack of health education," Bodhaine added. "Almost 65% of people have never been to a nutrition class and about half have never taken an exercise or fitness class. Those are staggering numbers. Our study found these significant behavioral and attitudinal differences regarding preventative healthcare measures to be based on gender, income, age and other defining characteristics."

Yankelovich has found that barriers differ by target group. The obese group is impacted most by educational and financial barriers, which are among the top 10 challenges for the obese but not for normal weight individuals. Concerns include:

--Insurance not covering programs (28%)

--Being unable to afford healthy food to lose weight (26%)

--Being daunted by the amount of weight to lose to reach a healthy weight (25%)

Obese Americans are also concerned about losing weight to feel more healthy (84%) and to avoid ill-health (74%), while normal weight individuals are more likely to cite staying slim (64%) and looking more attractive (57%) as primary motivators.

Another target group, married women with children, tends to be stymied first and foremost by time management concerns, such as finding time to cook for themselves when they typically cook for others (25%), not having the time to exercise (19%) and not having time to plan and shop for a diet (17%).

"Once there's an understanding of how the barriers affect each individual, then there can be meaningful improvements in education, information and hopefully motivation for change," Simpson said.

Segmentation Solutions

The quality and content of healthcare information varies widely and is often contradictory, particularly when it appears in popular media. Contradicting information leads to dissonance and consumer apathy, which then leads to resistance. This can be reversed by targeting each segment group with personally relevant messages that resonate with their struggles, worries and personal barriers, Bodhaine said.

"This is the first step in creating momentum among the prevention oriented," Bodhaine added. "Even though there is a healthcare crisis in this country, we can help correct it. By segmenting groups and linking rational arguments to the emotional ones, healthcare companies, marketers and employers can create targeted incentives and programs to attack healthcare illiteracy in the schools and the workplaces."

About the Yankelovich Study

A 35-minute online survey was conducted among 6,000 U.S. adults ages 18+ during March 2005. Yankelovich has developed a series of segmentation profiles that help marketers and healthcare professionals target specific audiences with precise and relevant products, services and messages that help guide Americans to healthier lifestyles. For more information about the study, please contact Susan Lee Simpson at 919-932-8654 or [e-mail].

About Yankelovich, Inc.

Yankelovich, Inc. (www.yankelovich.com) delivers measurable breakthroughs in marketing productivity for our clients. Our unique database and segmentation solutions, plus our unparalleled information-based insights into consumer motivations and lifestyles, identify specific, tangible opportunities for competitive advantage by moving clients from simplistic targeting to advanced productivity solutions. Details of our marketing solutions can be found in our new book, "Coming to Concurrence: Addressable Attitudes and the New Model for Marketing Productivity."

Clients include Fortune 500 companies in the retail, financial services, advertising, consumer products, technology, automotive, media, entertainment and insurance industries among others. For more than 30 years, The Yankelovich MONITOR(R) has tracked and forecasted consumer value and lifestyle trends. Our Insights Integration(SM) solutions, including MindBase(R), directly link our key research findings on why people buy to databases of customers and prospects. The Segmentation Company, a division of Yankelovich, provides proprietary needs-based segmentation solutions. Yankelovich is headquartered in Chapel Hill, NC, with offices in Norwalk, CT and Atlanta, GA.