03.01.10
To better predict healthy eating patterns among consumers, The Nielsen Company has created a Healthy Eating Index. Although the company has in the past reported on healthy eating trends, most insights have been focused on individual characteristics or product claims like “organic” or “fat free.” The missing piece of the puzzle, according to Nielsen, has been a single measure that includes a combination of several key healthy eating indicators across multiple categories. The Nielsen Healthy Eating Index, the company claims, can track healthy eating choices over time and monitor the impact of industry health and wellness initiatives. The index is calculated by adding supermarket sales for products with health claims on their label, like “natural” or “reduced calorie.” Sales are also added from some inherently healthy categories like fresh produce. Importantly, Nielsen makes adjustments to give more weight to key healthy eating indicators with relatively low sales like omega and antioxidant claims. Other health claims with strong sales like “reduced fat” and “natural” are given less weight to avoid having fluctuations in commodity prices adding volatility to the Index.