LIVESTRONG.COM Survey Reveals 86 Percent of Americans Attempt Changes to Improve Their Health but Less Than Half are Successful
Consumers cite 'lack of motivation,' 'lack of money' and 'lack of time' as the top three factors that prevent them from successfully accomplishing changes that benefit their health
SANTA MONICA, Calif/PRNewswire/ -- Findings from a survey
released today reveal that the vast majority of Americans (86%) attempt
changes to improve their overall health, but less than half of those
who consider making lifestyle changes (46%) are actually successful.
The survey, commissioned by LIVESTRONG.COM, the new online destination
that provides users with a 360 degree social conversation on health and
healthy living, fielded by Harris Interactive(R), reaffirms that
healthy living is an important area of concern. However, the findings
also highlight the importance of providing a framework that enables
people to be successful.
"There is no question that just about everyone believes they can
take better care of themselves and every day we hear information about
the multitude of ways to make that happen," said Dr. Sanjay Gupta,
physician, chief medical advisor of LIVESTRONG.COM and chief medical
correspondent at CNN. "Today's survey proves this, but also shows us
that there is a clear need for resources and tools to help them to take
an active role on their overall health and well-being. The key to
successfully making changes is increased awareness and constant
maintenance, which means setting goals for yourself and committing to
them on a daily basis."
The survey found 81% of U.S. adults indicated that there are
specific factors that prevent/would prevent them from making the needed
changes to benefit their overall health.
Based on LIVESTRONG.COM's survey findings, the top three roadblocks
cited in the survey were, lack of motivation, lack of money and lack of
time, respectively. Other factors that prevented people from making
changes included: lack of tools/resources, lack of support and lack of
knowledge/information. Additionally, women (91%) more so than men (82%)
think about making changes, yet females are more impacted by the top
roadblocks than males. Also, adults with higher income and education
levels are more likely to indicate "lack of time" as a factor, while
those with lower income levels are more likely to cite a "lacks of
tools/resources" as a key barrier to making lifestyle-related changes.
"It's all about consistency. We all know that thinking about making
a change is different from actually going out and doing something about
it. Whether someone is thinking about losing weight, eating healthy,
running a marathon or just incorporating regular exercise in their
day-to-day life, it takes commitment and daily determination to
successfully effect positive change," said Lance Armstrong Foundation
(LAF) founder and chairman, LIVESTRONG.COM advisory board chairman
Lance Armstrong.
LIVESTRONG.COM launched today with 15,000 professional articles and
videos, more than 350,000 nutritional food profiles and 50,000 health
and fitness-related questions and answers. The new online destination
is designed to inspire people to change their lives, help themselves
and help others by offering online tools and relevant content from both
experts and the community. The company's goal is to encourage
individuals to have a daily conversation about their health, fitness
and lifestyle by providing information support and its healthy-minded
community.
LIVESTRONG.COM commissioned a study to delve deeper into Americans'
attitudes about health and to determine how concerned they are about
specific health factors (e.g. weight, appearance, etc.) and how
successful they are at making lifestyle related changes.
To view highlights of this survey, visit: http://www.livestrong.com/survey
Methodology
Harris Interactive(R) fielded the study on behalf of LIVESTRONG.COM
from April 10-14, 2008, via its QuickQuery(SM) online omnibus service,
interviewing 2,511 U.S. adults (ages 18 and over). Data were weighted
to be representative of the total U.S. adult population on the basis of
region, age within gender, education, household income, race/ethnicity,
and propensity to be online. No estimates of theoretical sampling error
can be calculated; a full methodology is available.
About LIVESTRONG.COM
The LIVESTRONG brand has become a global movement dedicated to
changing the world through living well. Created by Demand Media(TM), in
alliance with The Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF), LIVESTRONG.COM is
the definitive online social conversation for health, fitness and
lifestyle. Through trusted content, interactive tools and an engaged
community, LIVESTRONG.COM is designed to inspire people to change their
lives, help themselves and help others. For additional information
about LIVESTRONG.COM, please visit: http://www.livestrong.com/
About Harris Interactive
Harris Interactive is a global leader in custom market research.
With a long and rich history in multimodal research that is powered by
our science and technology, we assist clients in achieving business
results. Harris Interactive serves clients globally through our North
American, European and Asian offices and a network of independent
market research firms. For more information, please visit: http://www.harrisinteractive.com/.
LIVESTRONG is a registered trademark of the Lance Armstrong Foundation in the United States and other countries.
CNN is not affiliated with and does not endorse Demand Media or the LIVESTRONG.COM website.
(C) 2008 Demand Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Demand Media is a
trademark of Demand Media, Inc. All other trademarks belong to their
respective owners.
Press Contacts:
Wadooah Wali, LIVESTRONG.COM
310.717.6930
Wadooah@livestrong.com
Rose Maciejewski, Ruder Finn
310.717.3005
maciejewskir@ruderfinn.com
Source: LIVESTRONG.COM
CONTACT: Wadooah Wali of LIVESTRONG.COM, +1-310-717-6930,
Wadooah@livestrong.com; or Rose Maciejewski of Ruder Finn, +1-310-717-3005,
maciejewskir@ruderfinn.com, for LIVESTRONG.COM
Web site:
http://www.livestrong.com/