Livestrong.com Reveals Youth Health Secret: Mom And Dad Matter More

Main Category: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Also Included In: Sports Medicine / Fitness;  Psychology / Psychiatry;  Nutrition / Diet
Article Date: 04 Sep 2008 - 2:00 PST

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Findings from survey results released by livestrong.com reveal that the vast majority of young Americans (66%) report that their parents or other family members have the most influence over the choices they make regarding their overall health. Similarly, two-thirds (67%) of the respondents also indicated that their parents or other family members influence their food choices a great deal or a lot. The survey, commissioned by livestrong.com, fielded by Harris Interactive®, demonstrates that today's youth are concerned about health-related factors and look to their family for guidance.

"As we consider something like this year's Olympic games, it's easy to assume that teens look to great athletes like Michael Phelps or Shawn Johnson as health and fitness role models - and in some cases they do," said Dania Sacks March, a San Francisco-based health and wellness educator and youth issues consultant for livestrong.com. "But the reality is that a majority of young people are paying attention to the habits of their family. Calorie intake, meal choices, activity levels and an overall outlook on health are all behaviors that many young adults emulate based on their surroundings."

Based on livestrong.com's survey findings, the influences and influencers of the food choices that youth make that trailed behind family were: what youth learn in school (36%), how much money they have in their pockets (34%), and their friends (28%). Even fewer youth report that coaches or mentors (20%), the Internet (8%), professional athletes (8%), and celebrities (7%) influence the decisions they make about what they eat a great deal or a lot.

Survey findings also indicated that youth are more concerned with their parent's health than any other health issue, including their own health (78%), their weight (67%), and a friend's health (68%). Nearly nine in ten (or 86%) of the 8-18 year olds surveyed are concerned with their parent's health. "Now more than ever we need to take responsibility for our health because a new generation is watching and learning," said livestrong.com Advisory Board Chairman Lance Armstrong. "The objective of our site is to give everyone the tools to live a healthier lifestyle, to help themselves, and inspire others. Parents don't have to do it alone - there are thousands of other members of our site who are trying to make changes and choices that will inspire their families."

Livestrong.com launched in June 2008 with 15,000 professional articles and videos, with more than 350,000 nutritional food profiles and 50,000 health and fitness-related questions and answers. The new online destination is designed to inspire people to change their lives, help themselves and help others by offering online tools, including a daily food diary to track caloric intake and physical activity, in addition to relevant content from both experts and the community. The website's goal is to encourage individuals to have a daily conversation about their health, fitness and lifestyle by providing information support and its healthy-minded community.

Livestrong.com commissioned a study to delve deeper into young Americans' attitudes about health and what it means to them to live a healthy lifestyle.

Methodology

Harris Interactive® fielded the study for LIVESTRONG.com from May 14-20, 2008, via its YouthQuerySM online omnibus service, interviewing a nationwide sample of 1,291 U.S. 8 to 18 year olds. Data for 8-17 year old results were weighted to be representative of the total U.S. 8-17 year old population on the basis of age, gender, education, parental education, race/ethnicity, region, and urbanicity. Data for 18 year old results was weighted to be representative of the total U.S. 18 year old population on the basis of age, gender, education, household income, race/ethnicity, and region. No estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated; a full methodology is available.

About Livestrong.com

The LIVESTRONG brand has become a global movement dedicated to changing the world through living well. Created by Demand Media, Inc., in alliance with The Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF), Livestrong.com is the definitive online social conversation for health, fitness and lifestyle. Through trusted content, interactive tools and an engaged community, livestrong.com is designed to inspire people to change their lives, help themselves and help others. For additional information about Livestrong.com, please visit: www.livestrong.com

About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is a global leader in custom market research. With a long and rich history in multimodal research that is powered by our science and technology, Harris Interactive assists clients in achieving business results. Harris Interactive serves clients globally through our North American, European and Asian offices and a network of independent market research firms. For more information, please visit: http://www.harrisinteractive.com.

LIVESTRONG is a trademark and/or registered trademark of the Lance Armstrong Foundation in the United States and/or other countries. Demand Media is a trademark and/or registered trademark of Demand Media, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks belong to their respective owners.

© 2008 Demand Media, Inc. All rights reserved.

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