A Sainsbury's survey carried out among young people in the UK has found that over 40% feel they should exercise more, while one-fifth think that skipping meals contributes to a healthier lifestyle.
The survey's findings were published at the start of Sainsbury's 2017 ‘Active Kids’ voucher-collecting scheme, which has made sports equipment available to schools and clubs in the UK since 2005. The retailer polled 2,000 young adults in the 11-14 year old range.
Although the majority of respondents (69%) considered their lifestyle healthy, more than a third (41%) agreed they should ‘probably do more exercise’; whereas 93% agreed that it was important to get at least an hour of exercise per day, only 81% claimed to be active for longer (not counting PE class).
The weather (43%) or 'not being very good at sport' (26%) were cited as the main reasons for not reaching the minimum of 60 minutes of exercise per day.
Regarding a balanced diet, 95% agreed that a five-a-day intake of fruit and vegetables was important, but the majority (58%) did not think they would cut down on fried foods and 23% said they would not eat fewer sweets, or less chocolate.
In addition, skipping meals (19%) and avoiding certain food groups (43%) were often thought to contribute to a healthier lifestyle, particularly by those seeking advise on diets from online sources, such as web forums, YouTube channels or blogs.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Martha Sparrius. Click subscribe to sign-up for ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine