Nine out of ten Romanians have taken action in the last 12 months to have a healthier lifestyle, according to a study conducted by iSense Solutions for communication group Lowe.

More than eight in ten Romanians (83%) associate a healthy lifestyle with food, 79% associate it with exercise, 79% - with eliminating stress and rest, and 50% - with water consumption.

“Compared to what they did last year, significantly more Romanians (56% vs. 26%) intend to reduce the level of stress next year, to improve their lifestyle. Therefore, we recommend brands to also focus on the consumers’ relaxation, besides associating with healthy eating and exercise,” said Traian Nastase, managing partner iSense Solutions.

On the other hand, when it comes to the barriers that keep them from having a healthy lifestyle, the Romanians listed the lack of sleep (54%), work (40%), the lack of money (35%), fatigue (32%), and stress (29%).

Nearly 60% of Romanians pay attention to what they eat, 40% of consumers paying a great importance to food. Thus, they are willing to pay up to 10% more on healthier products. For Romanians, a healthy food product shouldn’t contain E food additives or preservatives (87%), should be eco/bio/organic (55%), and should have a high content of vitamins (54%) or a short shelf life (3%).

More than half of Romanian consumers (53%) see eating out as unhealthy, the study also reveals. Moreover, 40% of employees say they don’t eat healthy while at work, and 34% associate unhealthy food with holidays. As a result, most Romanians (96%) cook at home at least once a week, only 15% eat in restaurants (excluding the fast food ones) or buy cooked food from hypermarkets/supermarket, and 13% eat in fast food restaurants.

When it comes to diets, 40% of Romanians are interested in slimming diets, and only 2% are vegetarians.

Seven out of ten consumers said that they buy more eco/bio products now than they did two years ago, which they buy directly from small producers (62%), from supermarkets and hypermarkets (56%), from the market (41%), or from specialized fairs (34%).

Seven out of ten Romanians exercise once a week, and two in ten exercise on a daily basis. Their favorite activities are walking for at least 30 minutes (practiced by 76%), riding a bike (31%), fitness (17%), and team sports (12%).

The study was conducted online on a sample of more than 1,000 respondents aged over 15. It is the first survey conducted within the Bold by Lowe Group initiative, a platform recently launched by Lowe group to analyze the main trends in key industries in Romania.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com