Making Sense of Mindfulness: Exploring the Impact of Mindfulness on Fitness & Diet

STUDY OVERVIEW

The growth in popularity of mindfulness has been one of the most dramatic health and wellness trends we track here at State of Our Health. Already growing before the pandemic, mindfulness has taken off in the years since, so much so that today 1 in 2 Americans aged 13 and up report having some type of weekly mindfulness practice.

We know from past reports on mindfulness that the consumers adopting it are already engaged with fitness and nutrition, and typically both. We also believe mindfulness is at work in a number of other broad shifts we’ve seen in how consumers approach fitness and diet. This quarter we set out to answer:

• How are consumers practicing mindfulness today? Who is driving the upward trend in popularity?
• How does mindfulness impact consumers’ approaches to fitness and nutrition? What changes once mindfulness is brought into the picture?
• What opportunities does the rise in mindfulness offer health-focused brands?

Contents:

1. Background, Methodology, Executive Summary, Key Takeaways
2. Mindfulness Today: Population Size & Practices: How many Americans are adopting mindfulness? Among which groups is it more popular? What does mindfulness look like today – what are consumers’ go-to techniques, motivations, and sources of influence?
3. How Mindfulness Influences Health Habits: How intertwined is mindfulness with fitness and diet? What are the mechanisms by which mindfulness impacts fitness and diet? How does their approach to health differ from other highly engaged health consumers?
4. Good Food, Good Mood: Mindfulness & Eating: How does mindfulness change how consumers approach healthy eating, especially compared to other highly engaged consumers? What opportunities exist for health-focused food brands?
5. Sweat It Out: Mindfulness & Exercise: How does mindfulness change how consumers approach fitness relative to other highly engaged consumers. What opportunities exist for fitness brands in this space?
6. What’s New in Q1: Explore trended data highlights covering health engagement, priorities, performance, motivations, and nutrition and fitness behaviors for Q1 2024.