A spate of new "healthy" fast food items have recently been released. Research has shown that these items may boost profits and recent sales data proves that more people are purchasing healthier items. But how much is this increase exactly? A new study by The NPD Group, a market research firm, found that while over 50 percent of adults say they eat healthy meals always or most of the time at home, only 25 percent say they eat healthy foods when they go out to restaurants.
The study, "Healthy at Foodservice—Consumer Expectations Put In Perspective" surveyed 5,178 consumers who visited a foodservice establishment in the past three months. The survey was conducted from May 1 to May 13, 2013.
Of those consumers not ordering healthily when they dine out, 37 percent said that when they go out to eat, “I want to eat what I want to eat,” and 23 percent said that “I want to indulge when I go out to eat.”
“The bottom line is that even with an increasing number of restaurants offering healthier menu items or posting calories and other nutritional information, at the end of the day, consumers see dining out as a treat, an indulgence,” said Bonnie Riggs, NPD restaurant industry analyst, in a press release.
For those 25 percent of adults who try to eat healthy out of the home, they have varying strategies to how they order. Thirty-nine percent choose to have a salad as a meal and 38 percent skip dessert. Check out the full results:
What do you find to be the best tactic to eating healthy when dining out?