Who cares about fitness and diet in Britain?

With the end of the holidays, many Britons are determined to put aside holiday indulgence in favour of a more health-conscious lifestyle. According to YouGov data, doing more exercise, improving diet and losing weight are the three most common New Year resolutions made by Britons. In light of these good intentions, just how many Britons are interested in exercise, in their diet and both?

A recent mini-report based on YouGov Profiles segments Britons into four categories. Those who are conscious of both fitness and diet, those who are conscious of one but not the other, and those who are conscious of neither.

The largest group, which makes up 43% of the population, includes those who are conscious of neither diet nor exercise, followed by those who are conscious of both, at 26%. Diet-conscious Britons make up 16% and exercise-conscious, 15%.

YouGov Profiles can reveal the distinctive qualities of these four segments. For example, those who are conscious of both diet and fitness are more likely to fall into the 35-44-years age group (21%) than the general population (16%). They’re twice as likely to be vegan (4% vs 2%) and are much more likely to bring their lunch from home on most days (64% v. 48%).

Those who are diet-conscious but not fitness-conscious skew older, with 45% of them being older than 55 years compared to 38% of the general population. This group is also twice as likely (23%) to spend less than £5 on snacks per month than a nationally representative sample (12%).

Fitness-conscious consumers are much more likely to belong to the 18-34 age group (23% vs 13) and to be men (59% vs 49%). This fitness-conscious group is much more likely than average to exercise at least once a week (82% vs. 57%) and to believe that it’s important to stay looking young (59% v 48%).

The largest group—those conscious of neither diet nor fitness—is balanced by gender but skews slightly towards the older age groups. This group is more likely to admit that they don’t look after their health as much as they should (72% vs 65%) and accept that healthy eating and running are simply not for them (60% vs 43%). Having come to terms that diet is not that important to them, they’re more likely to enjoy going to trendy restaurants and bars (42% vs 34%).

To find out more about each of these groups, including their brand preferences, check out the report here or try exploring our living data – for free.

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Methodology: YouGov Profiles is based on continuously collected data and rolling surveys, rather than from a single limited questionnaire. Profiles data for Great Britain is nationally representative of the online and weighted by age, gender, education, region, and race. Learn more about Profiles.  

Photo by Meagan Stone on Unsplash