Boomers are less likely to plan on eating healthier and exercising more in the new year
Washington, DC, January 11, 2023 — As 2023 gets underway, new research from Ipsos finds that Americans are focusing their New Year’s resolutions on health and body goals, with many reporting that they are trying to eat healthier and exercise more. While these goals are the most popular overall, when compared to younger generations, baby boomers are less likely to resolve to eat healthier or exercise more – or make a resolution at all. Additionally, trying to lose weight is far more common among women and millennials as a New Year’s resolution. Other goals, like drinking less alcohol or going to therapy, are less popular. Relatedly, very few Americans plan on participating in “Dry January,” a month when some plan to avoid drinking alcoholic beverages.
Detailed findings:
About half of Americans plan to eat healthier (50%) and exercise more (49%) for their New Year resolutions, the two most popular goals among all items tested in the survey.
- Younger Americans are more likely than baby boomers and those who are older to make resolutions around healthier eating and exercise. For example, about half of Gen Z (53%), millennials (55%), and Gen X (50%) plan on exercising more in the new year, while just a plurality of baby boomers and older (43%) intend to do the same.
- Other popular resolutions include drinking more water (43%), losing weight (42%), and expressing more gratitude (36%).
- Half of millennials (50%) report losing weight as one of their New Year resolutions. By comparison, only 27% of Gen Z, 45% of Gen X, and 40% of baby boomers and older plan to do the same.
- Similarly, more women (45%) than men (39%) report that losing weight is one of their New Year resolutions.
- Overall, three in ten Americans (29%) aren’t making any of the New Year resolutions that the survey tested.
Reducing their carbon footprint (17%), drinking less alcohol (16%), and starting or continuing therapy (11%) are among the least popular resolutions.
- Likewise, Dry January wins little adherence among the public; only 4% of Americans plan on participating.
- Outside of Dry January, a significant minority of Americans, roughly one in three, report not drinking alcohol.
For more information on this news release, please contact:
Chris Jackson
Senior Vice President, US
Public Affairs
+1 202 420-2025
About the Study
This Ipsos poll was conducted by Ipsos using our KnowledgePanel. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,014 members of the U.S. general population aged 18+.
The survey was conducted using KnowledgePanel, the largest and most well-established online probability-based panel that is representative of the adult US population. Our recruitment process employs a scientifically developed addressed-based sampling methodology using the latest Delivery Sequence File of the USPS – a database with full coverage of all delivery points in the US. Households invited to join the panel are randomly selected from all available households in the U.S. Persons in the sampled households are invited to join and participate in the panel. Those selected who do not already have internet access are provided a tablet and internet connection at no cost to the panel member. Those who join the panel and who are selected to participate in a survey are sent a unique password-protected log-in used to complete surveys online. As a result of our recruitment and sampling methodologies, samples from KnowledgePanel cover all households regardless of their phone or internet status and findings can be reported with a margin of sampling error and projected to the general population.
The data for the total sample were weighted to adjust for gender by age, race/ethnicity, education, Census region, metropolitan status, and household income. The demographic benchmarks came from the 2022 March Supplement of the Current Population Survey (CPS).
- Gender (Male, Female) by Age (18–29, 30–44, 45-59 and 60+)
- Race/Hispanic Ethnicity (White Non-Hispanic, Black Non-Hispanic, Other, Non-Hispanic, Hispanic, 2+ Races, Non-Hispanic)
- Education (Less than High School, High School, Some College, Bachelor or higher)
- Census Region (Northeast, Midwest, South, West)
- Metropolitan status (Metro, non-Metro)
- Household Income (Under $25,000, $25,000-$49,999, $50,000-$74,999, $75,000-$99,999, $100,000-$149,999, $150,000+)
The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults. The margin of sampling error takes into account the design effect, which was 1.16. The margin of sampling error is higher and varies for results based on sub-samples. In our reporting of the findings, percentage points are rounded off to the nearest whole number. As a result, percentages in a given table column may total slightly higher or lower than 100%. In questions that permit multiple responses, columns may total substantially more than 100%, depending on the number of different responses offered by each respondent.
About Ipsos
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