The French National Dairy Council (CIDIL) recently completed the second phase of a cross-cultural survey on perceptions of Food, Body and Health. The results highlight cultural differences among six Western nationalities in terms of which foods are considered to be most healthy, how important food is for good health, what ‘eating well’ means and whether this is a source of worry, regret or pleasure.
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The study was carried out by CIDIL’s OCHA research centre. Full results of the study and its implications will be discussed by an international panel of experts during a full-day symposium on 25 September at the upcoming 26th IDF World Dairy Congress in Paris.
Claude Fischler, leader of the OCHA study and director of research at France’s CNRS national scientific research center, commented: “Worrying about eating right does not appear to be effective when it comes to staving off health problems like obesity. Nations such as the US, in particular, suffer from acute nutritional anxiety. The study shows that people there are concerned about computing the nutritional and calorific value of meals while the French or Italians focus more on the pleasure of sharing mealtimes.”
Yves Boutonnat, managing director of CIDIL and deputy chair of the International Dairy Federation’s standing committee for marketing, commented: “Marketers need to adapt to some of the consumer trends that we have observed in this study, for example, a call for more variety and more information about the food we eat. We need to help consumers boost their enjoyment of eating and worry less! The study also highlights some important cultural differences, for example, perceptions as to which foods are good for you, how important they are for good health and what ‘eating well’ actually means.”
The following preview is based on a telephone survey carried out between September and October 2001 in the UK, the US, France, Germany, Italy and French-speaking Switzerland. More than 1,000 people were interviewed, including the general public, doctors and teachers. Interestingly, doctors tended to agree with their compatriots more often than with doctors from other countries. However, doctors in general were more convinced that today’s food is more hygienic and comes with better information than before.
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By GlobalDataThis second phase follows on from focus groups held in different countries in 2000 and 2001.
French Paradox: British give better ‘health scores’ to wine than the French
When it comes to rating the health benefits of foods, Europeans and their American counterparts tend to agree: fruit and vegetables score highest, followed by fish. The exceptions are in France, where fish is replaced by dairy products, and Switzerland, where it shares third place with cereals. Meat is given its best ratings by the French and cereals in Germany and Switzerland. When asked to rate health content from 1-10 (0= unhealthy, 10= very healthy), the Europeans all gave wine a “pass” mark, starting at 5.28 out of 10, with the most enthusiastic supporters the Brits (5.87 out of 10), compared with the French (5.41). However, wine was less well considered by the Americans with 4.44 out of 10.
Despite recent food safety scares, meat was awarded an overall 6.51 out of 10, with consumers’ perceptions most positive in France (6.84) and least positive in Germany (5.95). The UK and US sample awarded 6.47 and 6.66 respectively.
In terms of dairy products, UK replies showed that they perceived to be slightly more healthy than meat, (6.5 out of 10), and much more healthy in France, Germany and Switzerland, where scores were between 8.2 and 8.5). The average US score for dairy products was 7.68 out of 10. While most continental Europeans consider live dairy products to be healthy, the British and Americans are wary of unpasteurized products, rating them 4.2 and 4.6 respectively. On the other hand, Americans tend to see vitamin A and D boosts to milk, as a health benefit (marked 7.22 out of 10), unlike the Germans (3.94 out of 10).
TABLE 1Healthy foods: scores attributed to food families
Test of averages: numbers are either red or blue when the corresponding average is significantly different than the variable average (5% risk).
Red= above average, blue = below average
You are what you eat… and how you eat.
When asked to rate the importance of food for good health, the average response was 8.99 out of 10, with the highest scores in the UK (9.46) and the US (9.46). Vitamin supplements were not generally considered very important (average score 4.4 out of 10), except in the US, where the average score was 6.02 out of 10.
While good food is considered to be important, it is clearly not enough the only preoccupation. In fact, in Germany and Italy, physical exercise is considered more important than choosing healthy foods (rated 8.9. and 8.84 out of 10 respectively).
How you eat is also considered to be important. The majority of Germans tend to consider a varied diet to be important (58%), while the British (25% and 58%) and the Americans (15% and 59%) were also “strongly in agreement” or “mostly in agreement”. Dieting was not considered to be generally important for good health (rated at an average 5.08 out of 10), except in Italy, where the score was 7.13 out of 10. The real key to good health for most of the interviewees was to eat in moderation (47% in Switzerland to 90% in Germany).
On average, 42% of interviewees said that it is important to keep up-to-date with the latest information on food, although surprisingly perhaps, the British appeared to be quite unconcerned (19%).
TABLE 2
Factors considered important for maintaining good health (scores)
TABLE 3
Basic principals of a healthy diet: percentage that strongly agrees 
Test of averages: numbers are either red or blue when the corresponding average is significantly different than the variable average (5% risk). Red= above average, blue = below average
Eating well: pain or pleasure? A worry for the Americans, a pleasure for the French.
In the US, eating well is primarily a question of carefully selecting the right nutrients and eating the right quantities of food – in particular, not too many calories. For many, this is a daily worry: “I think eating is a task,” said one young American interviewee, who explained, “I mean, consider the pyramid that you’re supposed to follow. You’re supposed to have so much bread, so much meat, so much protein every day, so much fruit… It’s impossible to follow that!” In Britain, on the other hand, people tend to reason in terms of saving time and money: convenience is what counts!
In France, Switzerland, Italy and Germany, eating well is much more a question of sharing and conviviality, although there are some slight differences. In Germany, the fact of eating as a family appears to be more important than the actual meal. For Italians, the content of meals is as important as the sharing. And many French idealise meals with friends and family: they talk about being in the country, taking the time to cook and enjoy simple food in good company. In the words of one interviewee: “It’s cooking up a little omelette, something really simple, that you’ll enjoy eating with a little salad. It’ll all be tasty and good with a nice little glass of red wine and you’ll take your time over it. You won’t need television or a book… you’ll just enjoy the company and the moment.”
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Nostalgia ain’t what it used to be…
You win some and you lose some… overall, 87% of respondents believe modern eating has gained in choice, 78% in information on food, 76% in food hygiene and 50% in health benefits and freshness. On the other hand, 68% regret a loss in tradition and 57% a loss of confidence, as might be expected from recent events.
There appears to be a split between Latin countries and other nations. The French, Italian and French-speaking Swiss most commonly consider that food has lost some of its taste, quality and tradition (for example, 67% of French interviewees regretted a loss of taste, while 51% of Italians reported a loss of quality). This contrasts sharply with participants in the US, Germany and the UK, who felt that today’s food offers the same or more taste and quality (75%, 68% and 61% respectively for taste, 69%, 69% and 75% for quality). The vast majority of UK interviewees also mentioned an increase in choice and variety (94% and 89%) and in food enjoyment (65%). The British also considered that they were healthier today (56%), compared to 48% of Italians who considered they were less healthy.
In terms of food safety, most respondents reported a loss in confidence (57% overall), with France, Switzerland and the UK most concerned (64%, 61% and 64%, against 44% in the US). The Italians were most confident, with 38% reporting an increase, compared to an average of 23%.
As for the time spent eating, 57% of Germans felt they were spending less, contrasting strongly with the French, 62% of whom felt they spent more time at the table than before.
When asked if they would prefer to be in the past, present or future when it comes to eating, many chose the past (between 25-31% of the British, Swiss and French, and 44% of Americans. However, the majority are happy where they are.
