New Year, New You: The Effect of Mobile Devices on Dieting

by Jayne Krahn

Nearly 25 million adults have a weight loss goal of over 10 pounds, according to the 2013 MARS OTC/DTC Study. Now that it’s a new year, many Americans are focusing their resolutions on dieting and smartphones are making it easier than ever for adults to monitor their eating and exercising while on the go.

We found that 55% of adults are smartphone or tablet owners, and this is expected to grow to 60% by 2016. Further, users of diet and fitness apps increased from 43.9 million adults in 2012 to 55.7 million adults in 2013. This doesn’t show signs of slowing either.

Further, adults want their health and wellness websites to be mobile-friendly. The MARS study found that an important reason adults choose to return to health and wellness websites is the ability to easily read the website content on mobile device. The number of adults who feel this way has doubled from 19.1 million in 2012 to 43.7 million in 2013.

As more adults purchase tablets and smartphones, it will be interesting to see how they continue to use these devices to track and ultimately improve their health. We’ll make sure to keep you up-to-date on this figure when this year’s study is released in April.

Kantar Media’s MARS OTC/DTC Study helps agencies, marketers and media make better healthcare media and marketing decisions. It ties multimedia consumption to medical ailments, pharma brands, attitudes and opinions about healthcare and many other data points. A large sample of about 20,000 respondents provides stable and reliable information across categories and brands. Gain insights into category and product usage for 500+ OTC and Rx remedies, detailed information for 70 health conditions, including treatment options and much more.