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Despite all the attention focused on Americans' expanding waistlines, dieting among U.S. adults is at an all-time low - a befuddling reality for operators trying to serve up more healthful fare.
According to new data from the NPD Group, a Port Washington. N.Y.-based global market research firm, 23 percent of the American adult population is on a diet at any given moment - the lowest percentage since NPD began tracking Americans' eating habits in the 1980s.
Meanwhile, the number of people who said they want to lose weight is growing, with 40 percent of respondents reporting they would like to shed pounds but aren't consciously dieting.
For some restaurateurs, these mixed messages are an operational nightmare, as those who do proffer more healthful or dietetic options frequently end up throwing out unused inventory.
"We want health, but we want the latest," says NPD vice president. Harry Balzer. "The No. 1 reason that dieting is at an all-time low is that, fewer people are getting advice to diet from a doctor."
While dieting advice used to come primarily from doctors, he says, today it comes from a variety of sources, including books, television and the Internet. Nonetheless, the advice Americans seem to like best is their own.
According to the data, the preferred diet among dieting adults is "my own diet," with 33 percent of respondents claiming that as the chosen method for losing weight. Also, 12 percent of respondents said they were following diets prescribed by doctors, while 10 percent were using Weight Watchers.
But both dieters and nondieters in the United States are falling short of healthful guidelines. According to NPD data, more than 90 percent of American adults fail to meet the US. Food and Drug Administration's recommended daily servings of vegetables, fruit and dairy, and more than half of all adults are not getting enough of important nutrients such as calcium, magnesium, vitamin A, vitamin, C, vitamin E, folate and iron.
Nonetheless, Americans are eating more healthfully at home than in restaurants. According to NPD, 36 percent of in-home dinners include vegetables, versus just 8 percent of restaurant dinners; 8 percent of in-home dinners include...