Public Opinion and Weight Action About Diet Nutrition and Physical Activity - Most Americans Have Tried To Lose Weight

A 2005 Gallup Poll reported that trying to lose weight is a common activity among the U.S. adult population—more Americans than ever before said they had tried to lose weight, and many reported having attempted to lose weight several times in their lives. The number of attempts increased in the fifteen years from 1990 to 2005, from an average of four attempts in 1990 to nearly twice the number (7.3) in 2005. One-quarter (24%) of Americans indicated that they had tried to lose weight once or twice, 28% had made three to ten attempts, and 11% had tried more than ten times. Just one-third (34%) of Americans surveyed in 2005 said they had never tried to lose weight. (See Table 11.1.)

Women were much more likely than men to have tried to lose weight. In 2005 men reported an average of five weight-loss attempts in their lives, while women said they had tried to lose weight an average of ten times. Slightly less than half of men (45%) said they had never attempted to lose weight, compared with only 23% of women. Among women, 25% had tried to lose weight once or twice, while 46% had tried three or more times. Among men, 23% had tried once or twice to lose weight, while only 31% had made three or more attempts. (See Figure 11.1.)

Gallup reported that there were slight differences by age, with the youngest adults (aged eighteen to twenty-nine) and older adults (aged sixty-five and older) reporting fewer attempts at weight loss than those in the thirty to sixty-four age range. Adults aged eighteen to twenty-nine and adults aged sixty-five and older had made an average of four weight-loss attempts; thirty to forty-nine-year-olds TABLE 11.1 Self-reported lifetime number of weight loss attempts, 1990, 1999, and 2005 Joseph Carroll, "How Many Different Times, If Any, Have You Seriously Tried to Lose Weight in Your Life?" in Six in 10 Americans Have Attempted to Lose Weight, The Gallup Organization, August 16, 2005, http://poll.gallup.com/content/default.aspx?ci=17890&pg=1 (accessed January 14, 2006). Copyright © 2005 by The Gallup Organization. Reproduced by permission of The Gallup Organization.

TABLE 11.1
Self-reported lifetime number of weight loss attempts, 1990, 1999, and 2005
HOW MANY DIFFERENT TIMES, IF ANY, HAVE YOU SERIOUSLY TRIED TO LOSE WEIGHT IN YOUR LIFE?
Date	Once or twice	Three to 10 times	More than 10 times	Never	No opinion	Mean
SOURCE: Joseph Carroll, "How Many Different Times, If Any, Have You Seriously Tried to Lose Weight in Your Life?" in Six in 10 Americans Have Attempted to Lose Weight, The Gallup Organization, August 16, 2005, http://poll.gallup.com/content/default.aspx?ci=17890&pg=1 (accessed January 14, 2006). Copyright © 2005 by The Gallup Organization. Reproduced by permission of The Gallup Organization.
Jul 7-10, 2005	24%	28%	11%	34%	3%	7.3
Jul 22-25, 1999	25%	25%	8%a	40%	2%	4.6
Oct 18-21, 1990	30%	18%	5%	44%	3%	4.0

FIGURE 11.1 Self-reported lifetime number of weight loss attempts, by gender, 2005 Joseph Carroll, "How Many Different Times, if Any, Have You Seriously Tried to Lose Weight in Your Life? By Gender," in Six in 10 Americans Have Attempted to Lose Weight, The Gallup Organization, August 16, 2005, http://poll.gallup.com/content/default.aspx?ci=17890&pg=1 (accessed January 14, 2006). Copyright © 2005 by The Gallup Organization. Reproduced by permission of The Gallup Organization.had tried to lose weight an average of eight times; and fifty to sixty-four-year-olds an average of ten times. (See Figure 11.2.)

Survey respondents who characterized their diets as "very healthy" in 2005 said they had tried to lose weight an average of five times in their lives. They reported having made slightly fewer attempts than those who described their diets as "somewhat healthy" or "not FIGURE 11.2 Self-reported number of lifetime weight loss attempts, by age group, 2005 Joseph Carroll, "Average Number of Weight Loss Attempts by Age Groups," in Six in 10 Americans Have Attempted to Lose Weight, The Gallup Organization, August 16, 2005, http://poll.gallup.com/content/default.aspx?ci=17890&pg=1 (accessed January 14, 2006). Copyright © 2005 by The Gallup Organization. Reproduced by permission of The Gallup Organization.FIGURE 11.3 Self-reported number of lifetime weight loss attempts, by description of diet, 2005 Joseph Carroll, "Average Number of Weight Loss Attempts by Description of Diet," in Six in 10 Americans Have Attempted to Lose Weight, The Gallup Organization, August 16, 2005, http://poll.gallup.com/content/default.aspx?ci=17890&pg=1 (accessed January 14, 2006). Copyright © 2005 by The Gallup Organization. Reproduced by permission of The Gallup Organization.healthy", with an average of eight and nine weight loss attempts, respectively. (See Figure 11.3.)

Of those surveyed by Gallup, people who deemed their health "excellent" said they had tried to lose weight an average of four times, compared with eight times among those who described their personal health as "good" and thirteen times among those who considered their health as "only fair" or "poor." (See Figure 11.4.)

FIGURE 11.4 Self-reported number of lifetime weight loss attempts, by description of personal health, 2005 Joseph Carroll, "Average Number of Weight Loss Attempts by Description of Personal Health," in Six in 10 Americans Have Attempted to Lose Weight, The Gallup Organization, August 16, 2005, http://poll.gallup.com/content/default.aspx?ci=17890&pg=1 (accessed January 14, 2006). Copyright © 2005 by The Gallup Organization. Reproduced by permission of The Gallup Organization.