Google Answers Logo
View Question
 
Q: Demographics of adult dieters ( Answered 5 out of 5 stars,   3 Comments )
Question  
Subject: Demographics of adult dieters
Category: Health > Fitness and Nutrition
Asked by: victus-ga
List Price: $25.00
Posted: 26 Aug 2003 13:48 PDT
Expires: 25 Sep 2003 13:48 PDT
Question ID: 249009
I'm interested in the demographics of American dieters. I'm only
interested in dieters over the age of 18. What I'd like to know is the
number of dieters broken out by age, gender, income level, education
level. I'm not interested in statistics about people that are
overweight or obese, I only want to know the demographic profile for
dieters. The data should be current (year 2000 or later).

Request for Question Clarification by leader-ga on 26 Aug 2003 16:52 PDT
Hello victus-ga:

I am working on your request. I have send request to many research
companies and as soon as I get an answer, I will post it for you.
Thanks.
Answer  
Subject: Re: Demographics of adult dieters
Answered By: juggler-ga on 26 Aug 2003 22:12 PDT
Rated:5 out of 5 stars
 
Hello.

The most recent study containing the sort of data that you seek was
published in September 2002 by the American Dietetic Association.

Here is a link to the National Library of Medicine's abstract of the
study:

Journal of the American Dietetic Association, Sept 2002 v102 i9
p1247(5)
 Americans on diet: results from the 1994-1996 Continuing Survey of
Food Intakes by Individuals. (Research). Sahasporn Paeratakul; Emily
E. York-Crowe; Donald A. Williamson; Donna H. Ryan; George A. Bray.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12792621&dopt=Abstract

Luckily, the American Dietetic Association has many of its past
articles, including this one, available free on its web site.
http://www.adajournal.org

Here is a direct link to the September 2002 article:
http://www.adajournal.org/scripts/om.dll/search?action=searchft&srch_fields1=title&srch_value1=+Americans+on+diet&srch_check_exactphrase1=yes&srch_logicop1=and&srch_fields2=all&srch_value2=&srch_radio_jour=srch_jour&srch_jour=JADA&srch_radio_dates=srch_all_dates&srch_sort=rel&srch_month_from=01&srch_year_from=1993&srch_month_to=08&srch_year_to=2003&srch_show_abst=show_abst&srch_volume=&srch_page=&
d=jada&special=
Click on "full text" or "pdf" at the bottom of the page to view
article.

------------------------

Now, getting down to the demographics...

The study covered a "representative sample" of 10,144 U.S. adults. 
What this means is that the results of the study are intended to apply
to the U.S. adult population as a whole.  Thus, even though the study
itself doesn't estimate the total number of U.S. dieters by category,
we can estimate those totals by applying the survey results to
population date from the U.S. Census Bureau.

As of 2000, there were an estimated 205.8 million U.S. adults 18 or
older.
Source: Census.gov
http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/voting/proj00/tab01.txt

Thus, by applying the American Dietetic Association's representative
sample percentages to the total U.S. adult population of 205.8
million, we can estimate the number of dieters by age, gender, income
level, education. You didn't request ethnicity, but since that
information is also available, I will include that as well.  Thus, the
data below is from the article above with the exception of the
estimated total for each category which was calculated by me by
applying the various percentages to the Census data cited.
 
---------------------------------

AGE

Age 18-39  
Percent of total: 46.2
Percent dieting: 10.4
Estimated total dieters aged 18-39: 9.88 million

Age 40-59  
Percent of total: 32.3
Percent dieting: 19.2
Estimated total dieters aged 40-59: 12.76 million

Age 60 or older  
Percent of total: 21.5
Percent dieting: 25.7
Estimated total dieters aged 60 or older: 11.37 million

---------------------------------

GENDER

Men
Percent of total: 48.0
Percent dieting:  13.0
Estimated total men dieting: 12.84 million

Women   
Percent of total: 48.0
Percent dieting:  13.0
Estimated total women dieting: 21.19 million

---------------------------------

RACE/ETHNICITY

White 
Percent of total: 78.6
Percent dieting:  17.6
Estimated total white dieters: 28.47 million

African-American 
Percent of total: 11.8
Percent dieting:  13.8
Estimated total African-American dieters: 3.35 million

Hispanic 
Percent of total: 9.5
Percent dieting: 13.0
Estimated total Hispanic dieters: 2.54 million

---------------------------------

RACE-GENDER

White women 
Percent of total: 40.7
Percent dieting: 21.1
Estimated total white female dieters: 17.67 million

White men     
Percent of total: 38.0
Percent dieting: 13.8
Estimated total white male dieters: 10.79 million


African-American women 
Percent of total: 6.6
Percent dieting: 14.0
Estimated total African-American female dieters: 1.9 million

African-American men
Percent of total: 5.2
Percent dieting: 13.5
Estimated total African-American male dieters: 1.44 million

Hispanic women
Percent of total: 4.7
Percent dieting: 18.0
Estimated total Hispanic female dieters: 1.74 million

Hispanic men
Percent of total: 4.8
Percent dieting: 8.1
Estimated total Hispanic male dieters: 0.8 million (i.e., 800,000)


---------------------------------

HOUSEHOLD INCOME

less than or equal to 130% of poverty 
Percent of total: 16.2
Percent dieting: 15.2
Estimated total dieters at or below 130% of poverty: 5.07 million


More than 130% of poverty 
Percent of total: 83.8
Percent dieting: 16.7
Estimated total dieters above 130% of poverty: 28.8 million

 
---------------------------------

EDUCATION

Less than High school
Percent of total: 16.0
Percent dieting: 16.3
Estimated total dieters with less than high school education: 5.37
million


High school or greater
Percent of total: 84
Percent dieting: 16.5
Estimated total dieters with high school education or greater: 28.5
million

---------------------------------

TOTAL:
"The prevalence of dieting in the total sample was 16.5%."
Estimated total U.S. dieters: 33.95 million

---------------------------------
source:

Journal of the American Dietetic Association, Sept 2002 v102 i9
p1247(5)
 Americans on diet: results from the 1994-1996 Continuing Survey of
Food Intakes by Individuals. (Research). Sahasporn Paeratakul; Emily
E. York-Crowe; Donald A. Williamson; Donna H. Ryan; George A. Bray
http://www.adajournal.org/scripts/om.dll/search?action=searchft&srch_fields1=title&srch_value1=+Americans+on+diet&srch_check_exactphrase1=yes&srch_logicop1=and&srch_fields2=all&srch_value2=&srch_radio_jour=srch_jour&srch_jour=JADA&srch_radio_dates=srch_all_dates&srch_sort=rel&srch_month_from=01&srch_year_from=1993&srch_month_to=08&srch_year_to=2003&srch_show_abst=show_abst&srch_volume=&srch_page=&
d=jada&special=


The study also breaks down the dieters by type of diet, reason for
dieting, and many of factors, etc., so if you're interested in that
information, it's in the article.

---------------------------------

As indicated, the September 2002 article from the American Dietetic
Association that I've cited has the demographic information that you
requested.  Of course, there are also expensive market research
reports on this subject.

For example, a company called MarketData Enterprises sells a report
called "U.S. Weight Loss & Diet Control Market (7th Edition)" for
$1,995.
http://www.mkt-data-ent.com/studies.html 
 Their report supposedly contains "dieter demographics," as well. 
Whether the data in that report is any better, more comprehensive or
less comprehensive than the Dietetic Association's data is not readily
apparent. However, if you're interested, you might get in touch with
that company via their information request form:
http://www.mkt-data-ent.com/email.html
------------

search strategy:
"dieters" on PubMed: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
dieter, demographics

I hope this helps.
victus-ga rated this answer:5 out of 5 stars and gave an additional tip of: $20.00
Excellent, exactly the information I was looking for!

Comments  
Subject: Re: Demographics of adult dieters
From: juggler-ga on 27 Aug 2003 10:30 PDT
 
Thank you very much for the generous tip.
-juggler
Subject: Re: Demographics of adult dieters
From: nickdanger-ga on 27 Aug 2003 12:46 PDT
 
GENDER 
Men 
Percent of total: 48.0 
[...]
Women    
Percent of total: 48.0 

I was under the impression the total of the men and the women should
add up to 100%. Is there a third sex of which I am unaware?
Subject: Re: Demographics of adult dieters
From: juggler-ga on 27 Aug 2003 14:01 PDT
 
Thank you, Nick Danger.  

It seems that I pasted the men's percentages twice. The estimated
total of  21.19 million women was correct, though.

Women    
Percent of total: 52.0 
Percent dieting:  19.8 
Estimated total women dieting: 21.19 million 

Again, the percentages are in the article:
http://www.adajournal.org/scripts/om.dll/search?action=searchft&srch_fields1=title&srch_value1=+Americans+on+diet&srch_check_exactphrase1=yes&srch_logicop1=and&srch_fields2=all&srch_value2=&srch_radio_jour=srch_jour&srch_jour=JADA&srch_radio_dates=srch_all_dates&srch_sort=rel&srch_month_from=01&srch_year_from=1993&srch_month_to=08&srch_year_to=2003&srch_show_abst=show_abst&srch_volume=&srch_page=&

Important Disclaimer: Answers and comments provided on Google Answers are general information, and are not intended to substitute for informed professional medical, psychiatric, psychological, tax, legal, investment, accounting, or other professional advice. Google does not endorse, and expressly disclaims liability for any product, manufacturer, distributor, service or service provider mentioned or any opinion expressed in answers or comments. Please read carefully the Google Answers Terms of Service.

If you feel that you have found inappropriate content, please let us know by emailing us at answers-support@google.com with the question ID listed above. Thank you.
Search Google Answers for
Google Answers  


Google Home - Answers FAQ - Terms of Service - Privacy Policy