Americans Making -- and Keeping -- Health-Related New Year's Resolutions... Sort of, Kaiser Permanente Survey Says.

Feature/Lifestyle/Entertainment Editors & Health/Medical Writers

OAKLAND, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 31, 2003

While 60 Percent Make Resolutions,

Just 10 Percent Keep Them Faithfully

As sure as the sun will rise, Americans greet each new year with a battery of vows to do things differently during the coming 12 months, but according to a new survey from Kaiser Permanente, we're not all that serious about the health-related resolutions we do make.

The nationwide survey of 1,000 Americans, conducted just prior to the Christmas holidays by market research firm Synovate for Kaiser Permanente, America's largest not-for-profit health care organization, measured the degree to which consumers make and keep New Year's resolutions on such health matters as dieting, quitting smoking, developing an exercise regimen, and so on.

Kaiser Permanente's "New Year's and Health Issues Survey" found that nearly 60 percent of Americans make New Year's resolutions around one health theme or another. Making these promises to ourselves is more common for women than men (62 percent to 58 percent), for those ages 25-34 (63 percent), for Americans with incomes in the $50,000-$75,000 bracket (66 percent), and for those with a high school education or less (63 percent). Making health-related resolutions is most popular in the Midwest (63 percent) and least prevalent in the Northeast (54 percent).

All that said, just 10 percent of us admit to keeping resolutions faithfully, and the largest group -- 24 percent -- said they make and keep health resolutions only "occasionally." Another 12 percent keep them "rarely" and fully 8 percent admit to making them -- and never keeping even one.

Interestingly, a small percentage overall (3.5 percent) say they would be open to using the Internet to help them keep their resolutions via various online tools (e.g., weight loss sites, weight calculators, walking logs, etc.) -- a figure that rises to 5 percent among the Net-savvy 18-24 age group, and is almost mirrored by the baby boomers (45-54) and their elders (54-65), at 4.5 percent each. Those in the Northeast and Midwest also expressed a relatively greater interest in enlisting the Net to keep them on course.

Nearly 30 percent of Americans surveyed have never made a health-related New Year's resolution. Of the resolution-averse, the highest portion hails from the Northeast (32 percent), are college graduates (33 percent), and describe themselves as retired (33 percent). Men are more likely than women to skip resolutions entirely (32 percent to 26.5 percent).

"While our survey tackles a familiar American pastime -- one that we don't all approach with equal seriousness -- it sheds light on the growing awareness among Americans about taking control of their health," said Kate Christensen, Medical Director, Kaiser Permanente Internet Services Group. "There is no question that many still have a casual attitude about this annual ritual, but we're heartened by the fact that most of the people surveyed do resolve to improve their health. We're also encouraged to see that some are open to enlisting the Internet to help turn those New Year's resolutions into reality. At Kaiser Permanente, we're strong believers in informed self-care, which the Web at its best can foster."

Other findings of note:

-- Those who make but have never kept even one health-related

resolution are more likely to live in the West and be a member

of the 25-34 age group.

-- By contrast, a decidedly different profile emerges of those

who are most diligent about making and keeping resolutions

dealing with heath issues -- older (ages 45-54) and based in

the Northeast.

-- Those who prefer not to bother with resolutions at all are

more likely to be over 65 (38 percent) and earn more than

$75,000 (33 percent).

About Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente is America's leading integrated health care program. Founded in 1945, it is a not-for-profit, multi-specialty, group-practice prepayment program serving the health care needs of 8.4 million members in 9 states and the District of Columbia with headquarters in Oakland, Calif. Kaiser Permanente has research centers in 8 regions around the United States and publication of KP investigators' work has appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the New England Journal of Medicine, Pediatrics, the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, and other peer-reviewed medical journals.