Canadians and The Question of a Low-Carb Diet

Toronto, ONTARIO - According to a new study conducted by Ipsos-Reid on behalf of Sleeman Breweries, nine in ten (93%) Canadians say they try to be health conscious when making decisions about what to eat, including two in three (63%) who strongly agree they `try to be health conscious when making decisions about what to eat.' In addition, three in ten (27%) Canadians are currently dieting or trying to lose weight.

Canadians consider exercise to be a very important component of a healthy lifestyle, with nine in ten (91%) who try to exercise in order to lead a healthy lifestyle. In fact, two-thirds (67%) strongly agree with the statement "I try to exercise to lead a healthy lifestyle."

When asked what decisions they make in order to have a healthy diet to maintain their weight or avoid losing weight, the highest incidence were eating more fruits and vegetables (27%), exercise (26%), reducing fat (23%), and having a balanced diet (19%). Other mentions that were cited by at least 5% of the population include controlling portion sizes or eating in moderation (11%), eating healthier in general (9%), reduced carbohydrates or watching the amount of carbohydrates (7%), not eating junk or snack food (6%), and reducing or watching calories (5%).

Eight in ten (78%) Canadians are aware that a low-carbohydrate diet can be part of a weight reduction plan, yet 80% say they have never tried such a diet. One in seven (14%) have tried a low-carbohydrate diet or one that eliminates all carbohydrates from their diet and the remaining 6% are currently on a low- or no- carbohydrate diet.

Despite the fact that a majority of Canadians have never tried such a diet, six in ten (61%) respondents say they "try to limit the amount of carbohydrates they consume to avoid gaining weight." One in three (35%) Canadians indicate they are likely to try a new premium light beer that contains only 2.5 grams of carbohydrates per bottle (compared to 30-35 grams per bottle of flavoured alcoholic cooler and 11-17 grams per regular beer). Slightly more than half (55%) of Canadian adults say, "when they are dieting they avoid drinking beer."

As a whole, Canadians are not big beer drinkers. Half (52%) of the Canadian population say they never drink beer (0 bottles a week), while another three in ten (31%) describe themselves as "light beer drinkers" (1-5 bottles a week). Less than one in ten (8%) say they are "occasional beer drinkers" (6-11 bottles a week), and 7% say they are regular beer drinkers (12 or more bottles a week).

Canadian beer drinkers seem to favour mainstream domestic beer to premium/imported beer or light beer. Thinking about the last 100 bottles of beer they drank, a mean average of 53.0 were mainstream domestic beer, 28.2 were reported to be premium or imported beer, and 17.7 were light beer.

These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid poll conducted on behalf of Sleeman Breweries between August 12th and 14th, 2003. The poll is based on a randomly selected sample of 1,056 adult Canadians. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 177 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire population of adult Canadians been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were statistically weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age composition reflects that of the actual population according to the 2001 Census data.

Canadians Very Health Conscious

Nine in ten (93%) Canadians agree (63% strongly agree, 30% somewhat agree) with the statement "I try to be health conscious when making decisions about what to eat." The remaining 7% disagree (3% strongly disagree, 4% somewhat disagree) with the statement.

Those Canadians most likely to be health conscious when making decisions about what they eat are:

• Older adults (95% vs. 92%), women (96% vs. 90%), and Canadians with an annual household income of $30,000 or greater (94% vs. 89%).

• Beer drinkers (93%) are just as likely to say they are health conscious when making decisions about what they eat as Canadians as a whole.

Another three in ten (27%) Canadians say they are currently dieting or trying to lose weight.

• Albertans (38%) are most likely to be dieting or trying to lose weight at this time, followed by Atlantic Canadians (36%), Ontarians (30%), residents of Saskatchewan/Manitoba (27%), and British Columbia (24%). Residents of Quebec (17%) are the least likely to be dieting or trying to lose weight at this time.

• Middle-aged (31% vs. 24%) Canadians and women (30% vs. 23%) are also most likely to be dieting or trying to lose weight at this time.

• Beer drinkers (25%) are just as likely to be dieting or trying to lose weight at this time as Canadians as a whole.

Exercise Important Component of Healthy Lifestyle

Canadians consider exercise to be a very important component of a healthy lifestyle. Nine in ten (91%) individuals agree (67% strongly agree, 24% somewhat agree) with the statement "I try to exercise to lead a healthy lifestyle." The remaining one in ten (9%) disagree (6% somewhat disagree, 3% strongly disagree) with the statement.

Those Canadians most likely to try to exercise to lead a healthy lifestyle are:

• Canadians with a high school diploma (92% vs. 80%), and Canadians with an annual household income of $60,000 or greater (94% vs. 89%).

• Beer drinkers (91%) are just as likely to try to exercise to lead a healthy lifestyle as Canadians as a whole.

When asked what decisions they make in order to have a healthy diet to maintain their weight or avoid losing weight, the highest incidence were eating more fruits and vegetables (27%), exercise (26%), reducing fat (23%), and having a balanced diet (19%). Other mentions include controlling portion sizes or eating in moderation (11%), eating healthier in general (9%), reduced carbohydrates or watching the amount of carbohydrates (7%), not eating junk or snack food (6%), reducing or watching calories (5%), avoiding foods high in sugar (3%), drinking lots of water (3%), reading food labels (2%), not eating meat or red meat (2%), avoiding processed food (2%), eating organic foods or natural ingredients (2%), following the Canada food guide (2%), eating a high amount of protein (1%), reducing alcohol consumption (1%), not eating late (1%) and skipping meals (1%).

• Canadians 35 and older (30%) are significantly more likely than those 18 to 34 to cite eating more fruits and vegetables (20%), while young adults (31%) and middle aged (27%) Canadians are more likely than their older (20%) counterparts to indicate they would exercise. Older (23%) and middle aged (21%) Canadians are significantly more likely than are young adults (15%) to say they would eat a balanced diet. Older (16%) Canadians are more significantly more likely than are middle aged (9%) or young adults (9%) to say they would control portion sizes.

• Women are significantly more likely than men to say they would eat more fruits and vegetables (women 31%, men 22%) as well as reduce or watch their carbohydrate intake (women 9%, men 5%).

• Statistically, there is no difference in the responses of beer drinkers and the Canadian population in general.

Canadians Aware of Weight-Loss Benefits of a Low-Carb Diet, but Not Willing to Try It

Eight in ten (78%) Canadians are aware that a low-carbohydrate diet can be part of a weight reduction plan. The remaining 22% say they were not aware of this.

• Residents of Quebec not as aware as the rest of Canada that a low-carbohydrate diet can be part of a weight reduction plan (59% aware, 40% not aware).

• Canadians with at least some postsecondary education (81% vs. 71%) and Canadians with an annual household income of $60,000 or more (85% vs. 73%) are most likely to be aware that a low-carbohydrate diet can be part of a weight reduction plan.

• Beer drinkers (78%) are no more or less aware that a low-carbohydrate diet can be part of a weight reduction plan than is Canada as a whole.

Eight in ten (80%) say they have never tried such a diet. One in seven (14%) have tried a low-carbohydrate diet or one that eliminates all carbohydrates from their diet and the remaining 6% are currently on a low- or no- carbohydrate diet.

• Residents of Saskatchewan/Manitoba (89%) and Atlantic Canada (88%) are the least likely to have tried a low/no carbohydrate diet, followed by residents of Quebec (85%), British Columbia (79%), Alberta (76%), and Ontario (75%).

• Men (84%) are less likely than women (76%) to have tried a low/no carbohydrate diet.

• Beer drinkers (83%) are just as unlikely as Canadians as a whole to have tried a low/no carbohydrate diet.

Despite the fact that a majority of Canadians have never tried such a diet, six in ten (61%) respondents agree (25% strongly agree, 36% somewhat agree) with the statement, "I try to limit the amount of carbohydrates I consume to avoid gaining weight." Four in ten (37%) disagree (17% somewhat disagree, 19% strongly disagree) with the statement, and the remaining 3% were unsure.

• Quebecers (70%) are most likely to agree with the statement, followed by Atlantic Canadians (64%), Ontarians (61%), residents of Saskatchewan/Manitoba (57%), Alberta (51%), and British Columbia (51%).

• Older (71%) and middle-aged (60%) Canadians are more likely to agree with the statement than young adults (51%).

• Women (66%) are more likely than men (55%) to try to limit their intake of carbohydrates to avoid gaining weight.

• Beer drinkers (57%) are nominally less likely to limit their intake of carbohydrates to avoid gaining weight.

One in Three Canadians Likely to Try a Low-Carb Light Beer

One-third (35%) of Canadians indicate they are likely (18% very likely, 17% somewhat likely) to try a new premium light beer that contains only 2.5 grams of carbohydrates per bottle (compared to 30-35 grams per bottle of flavoured alcoholic cooler and 11-17 grams per regular beer). The remaining two-thirds (64%) of Canadians are not likely (15% not very likely, 49% not at all likely) to try a new low-carbohydrate light beer.

• Atlantic Canadians (40%) are the most likely to try a new light, low-carbohydrate beer, followed by Ontarians (37%), Albertans (37%), residents of Saskatchewan/Manitoba (36%), Quebec (34%), and finally British Columbia (27%).

• Canadian adults under the age of 55 (39% vs. 28%) and men (39% vs. 32%) are most likely to try a new low-carbohydrate light beer.

• Half (53%) of Canadian beer drinkers are likely (28% very likely, 26% somewhat likely) to try a new low-carbohydrate light beer. The other half (47%) say they are unlikely (20% not very likely, 27% not at all likely) to try the new beer.

Slightly more than half (55%) of Canadian adults agree (40% strongly agree, 15% somewhat agree) with the statement, "when I am dieting I avoid drinking beer." Four in ten (37%) disagree (14% somewhat disagree, 24% strongly disagree) with the statement, and the remaining 8% did not know.

• Residents of Quebec (61) are the most likely to avoid beer when dieting, followed by Atlantic Canadians (54%), Ontarians (54%), Albertans (54%), residents of Saskatchewan/Manitoba (51%), and finally British Columbia (49%).

• Women (63% vs. 47%) and Canadians with an annual household income less than $60,000 (59% vs. 51%) are also most likely to avoid beer when dieting.

• Slightly less than half of beer drinkers (47%) agree (25% strongly agree, 22% somewhat agree) with the statement, "when I am dieting I avoid drinking beer." Half (49%) disagree (21% somewhat disagree, 27% strongly disagree), and the remaining 5% are unsure.

Canadians not Big Beer Drinkers

As a whole, Canadians are not big beer drinkers. Half (52%) of the Canadian population say they never drink beer (0 bottles a week), while another three in ten (31%) describe themselves as "light beer drinkers" (1-5 bottles a week). Less than one in ten (8%) say they are "occasional beer drinkers" (6-11 bottles a week), and 7% say they are regular beer drinkers (12 or more bottles a week).

• Regional differences are as follows: regular beer drinkers are most likely to be Atlantic Canadians (10%) and Ontarians (9%) and light beer drinkers are most likely to be Quebecers (39%).

• Canadian adults under the age of 55 are most likely to be regular (8% vs. 5%), occasional (10% vs. 4%), or light beer drinkers (35% vs. 24%), while Canadians 55 or older (67% vs. 45%) are most likely to say they never drink beer.

• Canadians with an annual household income of $60,000 or more are most likely to be regular (11% vs. 6%), occasional (11% vs. 8%), or light beer drinkers (36% vs. 29%), while Canadians with an annual household income of less than $60,000 (57% vs. 41%) are most likely to say they never drink beer.

Canadian Beer Drinkers Prefer Domestic Brews

Canadian beer drinkers seem to favour mainstream domestic beer to premium/imported beer or light beer. Thinking about the last 100 bottles of beer they drank, a mean average of 53.0 were reported to be mainstream domestic beer, 28.2 were premium or imported beer, and 17.7 were light beer.

• Residents of Quebec (56.2) and Atlantic Canada (56.0) are most likely to drink mainstream domestic beer, followed by residents of Ontario (51.7), Alberta (51.1), British Columbia (50.7), and Saskatchewan/Manitoba (50.5).

• Mainstream domestic beer drinkers are also most likely to have a highschool diploma (63.2) or less (65.4), have an annual household income of $30,000-$59,000 (59.6).

• Residents of British Columbia (36.4) are most likely to drink premium or imported beer, followed by residents of Quebec (30.7), Ontario (27.8), Alberta (25.5), Saskatchewan/Manitoba (24.7), and finally Atlantic Canadians (15.6).

• Premium/imported beer drinkers are also most likely to have a university degree (41.7) and an annual household income of $60,000 or more (36.3).

• Residents of Atlantic Canada (27.5) are most likely to be light beer drinkers, followed by residents of Saskatchewan/Manitoba (24.0), Alberta (21.9), Ontario (20.3), Quebec (11.7), and British Columbia (10.3).

• Light beer drinkers are also most likely to be 55 years or older (21.9), women (22.2), and from a middle-income household (21.0).

Please open the attached PDF documents to view the factum and detailed tables.

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For more information on this news release, please contact:
John Wright
Senior Vice-President
Ipsos-Reid Public Affairs
(416) 324-2900