Share
The recession is busting wallets and bursting waistlines as U.S. consumers shift their eating habits to help their budgets.
As the unemployment rate passes 10 percent and consumers find themselves increasingly strapped, they turn to cheap but effective means to fill their families' tummies. And those who have jobs are working longer hours, forgoing exercise and searching for foods that are not only economical but convenient.
As a result, more consumers are turning to processed foods - either already prepared, frozen or canned and typically filled with fat-generating calories, refined grains and sugars. That's making more Americans chubbier and prone to obesity-related illnesses such as diabetes in what has been dubbed "recession fat."
"Eating healthy has been one of the big casualties of this economic downturn," says Harry Balzer, chief industry analyst at the NPD Group and author of the research company's annual Eating Patterns in America report. "Last year, consumers cut back on eating 'better-for-you' and organic foods."
The culprit is cost. About 70 percent of respondents to a recent Technomic Inc. survey said healthier foods are increasingly difficult to afford.
Meanwhile, consumers are turning to more affordable grab-and-go alternatives such as chips, cookies, candy and now snack wraps and mini-burgers in between meals and often in lieu of a meal, recent studies show.
Mintel, a market research firm, is tracking double-digit sales gains for salty snacks as well as popcorn and cheese snacks. Potato chip sales are up 22 percent this year compared with 2007, tortilla chips sales up 18 percent.
More consumers are eating at home. They're microwaving frozen pizza or mixing pancake batter with water. They're bringing home fast food and serving it in pretty dishes as a meal.
Not surprisingly, the obesity rate was up more than 1 percentage point to 26.4 percent in year-over-year comparisons in September, according to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index.
Diabetes rates climbed in tandem, up to 11.3 percent of American adults. That's about 26 million Americans.
