President's Choice Healthy Insider's Report Survey
Toronto, ON- A new Ipsos Reid survey conducted for the President's Choice Healthy Insider's Report finds many Canadians admitting to poor eating habits and/or attitudes towards food. For instance, six in ten Canadian adults say they have eaten over the sink or straight from the fridge in the past month, half sometimes eat just because they're bored, one-third have had a whole meal on the run at least once in the past month, one-quarter have eaten a bag of chips or popcorn for dinner in the past month, the same proportion have eaten ice cream straight from the tub, and one in seven have picked food off of someone's else plate in a restaurant because they didn't want to order it themselves!
The survey also indicates that nearly half of Canadian adults have actively tried to lose weight in the past six months and they have utilized many weight loss methods to do so.
These are the findings of an Ipsos Reid/Loblaw Companies Ltd. poll conducted from January 18 to 22, 2007. For the study, a sample of 1193 adult Canadians was surveyed online. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 177 2.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadian population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to Census data.
Canadians Fess Up to Eating Habits & Attitudes around Foods
The President's Choice Healthy Insider's Report survey finds many Canadians admitting to some bad eating behaviours, such as: Snacking without preparing a plate (61%), eating only because they're bored (51%), sacrificing elements of one meal for another (42%), skipping lunch for a big dinner (36%), eating on the go (31%), eating a bag of chips or popcorn for dinner (25%), eating ice cream straight form the tub (23%), continuing eating even if they're full (17%), eating something just to "even it out" (16%), picking off of someone else's plate at a restaurant (14%), lying about what they ate (9%), dieting for a big event (8%), hiding foods (7%), and lying about food allergies at a restaurant (2%).Gender and age seem to affect predisposition to some of these behaviours:
- 56% of women eat just because they're bored (vs. 44% of men);
- 49% of women say they sometimes make a sacrifice at one meal so that they can have more at another (vs. 36% of men);
- 11% of women have dieted for a specific occasion (vs. 5% of men);
- 65% of men snack without preparing a plate (vs. 58% of women);
- 34% of men eat on the run (vs. 28% of women);
- 28% of men have eaten ice cream straight from the tub (vs. 18% of women);
- 60% of young adults 18-34 years of age say they eat because they're bored (vs. 46%);
- 43% of young adults eat on the run (vs. 25% of those 35 or older); and
- 20% of young adults have picked off of someone else's plate at a restaurant (vs. 12% of those 35 or older).
There also appears to be some common attitudes that are associated with foods; these include guilt over consuming "bad" foods (48%) or needing to justify eating "bad" foods (18%), rewarding or celebrating good behaviours such as an accomplishment (47%) or exercise (28%), making up for a bad day with food treats (38%), thinking only "bad" foods taste good (30%), thinking about every morsel of food consumed (27%), and thinking low fat/low cal warrant larger portions (22%).
Gender and age also seem to affect attitudes towards foods:
- 56% of women sometimes feel guilty after eating something "bad" (vs. 41% of men);
- 41% of women think special foods are a good way to make up for a bad day (vs. 36% of men);
- 30% of women think about every piece of food they eat (vs. 25% of men);
- 23% of women find a way to justify eating something if they feel bad about it (vs. 12% of men);
- 57% of young adults sometimes celebrate an accomplishment with food (vs. 43% of those who are older);
- 48% of young adults think special foods are a good way to make up for a bad day (vs. 35% of those who are older); and
- 36% of young adults sometimes reward themselves with food after exercising (vs. 25% of those who are older).
Many Canadians have Tried to Lose Weight in the Past 6 Months, What Did They Do?
More than four in ten (44%) Canadian adults have tried to lose weight at one point or another in the past six months. While these Canadians tried various strategies, it's the "good old fashioned" methods that seem to prevail: Exercise (79%), eating healthier foods (77%), cutting down on junk/fast food (73%), eating smaller portions (70%), cutting down on fats (60%), and cutting down on sugar (55%).
- Women are more likely than men to have actively tried to lose weight in the past six months (51% vs. 35%).
Jennifer McLeod
Senior Research Manager
Ipsos Reid Public Affairs
(416)324-2900
About Ipsos Public Affairs
Ipsos Public Affairs is a non-partisan, objective, survey-based research company made up of campaign and political polling veterans as well as seasoned research professionals. The company conducts strategic research initiatives for a diverse number of American and international organizations, based not only on public opinion research but often elite stakeholder, corporate, and media opinion research. It has offices in Chicago, New York City, Ottawa, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto, Vancouver, and Washington, D.C., with affiliates around the world. Ipsos Public Affairs conducts national and international public opinion polling on behalf of The Associated Press, the world's oldest and largest news organization. Ipsos Public Affairs is an Ipsos company, a leading global survey-based market research group.
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