Food and Fitness Continuum boosts sports nutrition & weight management products, new research

NARROWING traditional distinctions between the sports nutrition and weight management categories points to the need to represent the two as a single market existing along a continuum.

This is the finding of a new research conducted by DuPont Nutrition & Health and HealthFocus (R) International involving data collected from more than 13,000 consumers in 21 countries.

The “Food and Fitness Continuum” contains three core consumer segments: personal record performers or competitive, performance-focused individuals; enlightened actives comprising consumers striving to eat healthy foods to support their active lifestyles; and motivated strugglers or those consumers who recognize that weight loss is necessary but who find dieting difficult. Research on these core targets and multiple points along the continuum present manufacturers with new insights on consumer needs, motivations, and behaviors.

The Food and Fitness Continuum is discussed in a DuPont Nutrition & Health webinar designed to help manufacturers develop and market sports nutrition and weight management products. The webinar will also tackle subjects and ingredients related to sports nutrition and weight management, including muscle health and performance, probiotics, soy protein, fiber, and ingredients that promote cardiovascular fitness.

DuPont Nutrition & Health experts Mark Cope, Ph.D., research scientist nutrition science, and Michelle Braun, Ph.D., research scientist nutrition science will also share their expertise and insight on related topics.

Greg Paul, Ph.D., MBA, global marketing director consumer segments at DuPont Nutrition & Health and one of the presenters for the webinar, noted the blurring of the lines between the sports nutrition and weight management markets.

“Consumption of sports nutrition products has moved beyond the hard core athlete to a more mainstream consumer, while at the other end of the spectrum consumers concerned about their weight have replaced the traditional notion of the short-term diet with a broader and more sustained commitment to a healthy lifestyle. The confluence of these two trends has resulted in the emergence of the continuum,” Mr Paul said.

Interested webinar participants can register online.