Diet foods unlikely to tempt Germans
skipping meals to keep their weight down - a massive 17.5 million
people. But according to a new survey of European dieting habits,
Germans are also the least likely to be trying to lose weight most
of the time.
With the market for diet food and drink products growing rapidly as much of the western world becomes increasingly obsessed with health and weight issues, manufacturers may be concerned to hear that many consumers' approach to losing weight is simply not to eat anything at all.
Although the 23 per cent figure in Germany is far higher than the rest of Europe, the figures there are not insignificant, according to the report from Mintel. Some 15 per cent of UK dieters, for example, skip meals in order to lose weight, just ahead of their counterparts in Spain (13 per cent) and France (11 per cent).
More bad news for diet food manufacturers and retailers trying to target German consumers is that just one in seven Germans (13 per cent) tries to lose weight on a regular basis, and in fact, just one in eight Germans (13 per cent) regularly eats 'light' foods, according to the Mintel research.
But light foods have much better prospects in France, where one in three adults (32 per cent) regularly tries to lose weight, and in the UK, where the figure is one in four (28 per cent). As a result, these countries also have a higher number of regular light food eaters - 25 per cent in the France and 18 per cent in the UK. In Spain, the figure is 21 per cent.
"Obesity is becoming a real problem in Germany with almost one in three German adults clinically obese," said Mintel consumer analyst Jenny Catlin. "But it is particularly difficult for the Germans to combat obesity in a healthy way due to the heavier nature of a traditional German meal. And so it seems that they have now turned to fast, short term, ultimately unhealthy ways of dealing with weight problems, namely skipping meals."
The report shows that German women, like their counterparts in the rest of Europe, are more likely than men to skip meals to keep their weight down - 28 per cent compared to 17 per cent.
But unlike the rest of Europe, the percentage of people who skip meals to keep their weight down does not decline as people get older. In fact, while one in five (20 per cent) Germans aged 15-19 years old do this, a similar proportion (19 per cent) of over 65s also do it. In the ages in between the proportions are even higher - around one in four adults.
"In other European countries it tends to be the younger people who want to see fast results and so are more likely to 'binge diet', by skipping meals. The older generations are prepared to adjust their diets for the long term good of their health by avoiding fat and sugar, watching the number of calories they eat and eat mainly light foods," said Catlin.
Despite their somewhat drastic - and unhealthy - weight loss methods, Germans are the most likely amongst the four nations covered by the report to consider their diet to be very healthy, as more than two in five (42 per cent) feel this way. The Germans are also the least likely to feel that they should do a lot more about their health. Only just over two in five (45 per cent) adults in Germany feel this way compared to at least half of adults in Spain (51 per cent), the UK (51 per cent) and in France (50 per cent).
