Survey Finds 81.6% of Dieters Reaching Out For Psychological Support—But May Not Get It
Analysts at www.BestDietForMe.com, a Free online diet analysis service for consumers to find the diet plans best “matched” to their lifestyle and budget, have just released the findings of a new national survey of 10,400 dieters visiting the website from December 1-24, 2004.
Tampa, FL (PRWEB via PR Web Direct)
January 5, 2005 -- Analysts at BestDietForMe.com, a free online diet
analysis service for consumers to find the diet plans best “matched” to
their lifestyle and budget, have just released the findings of a new national
survey of 10,400 dieters visiting the website from December 1-24, 2004. The
BestDietForMe.com survey has the heavy emphasis on psychological and lifestyle
questions. Obesity experts that when weight loss programs include counseling and
interactive support, dieters are more successful at losing and maintaining
weight loss. BestDietForMe.com analysts have identified three areas where
dieters may need extra help:
• Stimulus Control - managing eating
triggers and high risk situations, controlling portion sizes.
• Emotional
Eating - helps you with stress management and binge eating.
• Social Eating
Skills - strategies for dining out in restaurants and handling
saboteurs.
Surveys claim that 46% of American women with children under
18 say they experience stress frequently in their daily lives. Weight loss
programs that don’t address stress management or emotional eating are missing a
key area of support.
Major findings:
• Of 3,084 people completing the
BestDietForMe.com survey, 81.6% of them need for at least one of the
psychological support areas mentioned above.
• 30.1% have a need for ALL 3 of
the support areas: stimulus control, emotional eating, and social eating
skills.
Other 2005 Forecasts:
• The 2005 “diet season” will be one
characterized by the highest level of dieter confusion and price sensitivity
ever. Surveys claim that 24% of Americans are very or somewhat confused about
how to eat a healthy diet. People are waiting for “the next big thing” in weight
loss, as the low-carb craze fades. Low-fat eating may stage a comeback.
• Gastric
bypass, a weight loss surgery, will soar to new highs, spurred by new
Medicare coverage.
• No new prescription diet drugs (like Meridia,
Phentermine, and Xenical) will make it to market in 2005. As a result, we expect
strong demand for retail or “OTC” appetite suppressants.
• Weight loss
programs for seniors and “camps” for adolescents and kids will re-emerge.
•
Medical weight loss programs will become more aggressive marketers in
2005.
“We believe that dieters in 2005 will increasingly demand that
weight loss providers give them the psychological support that they so badly
need. Highly structured commercial and medical programs already do that via
in-person counseling, but these plans tend to be more expensive. It costs money
to employ dietitians, MDs, nurses and other healthcare professionals. Will
dieters pay extra? We don’t know. Support can also be delivered via telephone,
diet websites with bulletin boards and chat rooms and email, but is that as
effective? It seems to us that weight loss clinics, such as Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, and LA Weight Loss (with a
physical presence and live counselors), hospitals, bariatricians, and dietitians
might be in a better position to do this,” according to John LaRosa, Research
Director.
More than half of the top 15 searched diet programs by people
using the Internet are related to do-it-yourself plans (the Atkins
diet, South Beach diet, the Zone, Dr. Phil diet, Blood Type
diet). However, only one of these plans, Dr. Phil’s, has a primary focus on
psychological component.
In the 2005 diet season, dieters now have an
unbiased tool, BestDietForMe.com, to find the diet programs (by company name)
best suited to their needs—from their home 24/7. A database of 50+ of the most
legitimate and popular diets is searched after the consumer fills out an easy
but in-depth 7-8 minute survey online. Consumers can also get in-depth diet
program reports, and have access to special offers by weight loss providers.
Best of all, there is NO cost.
About BestDietForMe.com/Marketdata
www.BestDietForMe.com is
operated by Marketdata Enterprises, Inc., an independent analyst of the U.S.
weight loss industry since 1989. The website was developed with the aid of a
nationally known dietitian and a PhD psychologist, and is NOT funded by any diet
companies. The website also contains lots of unique, free content. All the top
diet plans are covered: the Atkins diet, the Zone diet, Blood Type diet, Richard
Simmons, Dr. Phil diet, Weight Watchers, Curves for Women, South Beach Diet,
Medifast, Jenny Craig, LA Weight Loss, Novartis, fad diets, and more.
Marketdata’s diet market research is regularly quoted by all major
media.
Contact Information:
John LaRosa, Research
Director
BestDietForMe.com/Marketdata Enterprises Inc.
813-931-3900
www.BestDietForMe.com
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/1/prweb194053.htm