17% of Romanians believe that intermittent or religious fasting is the best diet they have ever followed. At the same time, 10% indicated a balanced diet.
Some respondents turned to the Dukan and Rina diets. PHOTO Shutterstock (Archive)
According to a survey posted on the website of the Center for Urban and Regional Sociology, 17% of respondents indicated fasting (intermittent, religious) as the best diet. Other subjects preferred the Nupo diet (14%), a balanced diet (10%), a salt- and fat-free diet (8%), dissociated (7%), Dukan (6%), vegetarian/high in vegetables (4% ), Rina (4%), keto/ketogenic (4%), personalized/recommended by nutritionist (4%), Danish (2%), and 17% had other answers (hunger, caloric deficit, no sugar, bread or carbohydrates), writes Agerpres.
More than a third (37%) of the subjects stated that they had dieted in the past. Of these, 29% have dieted twice in the last five years, 29% only once, 10% three times, 5% five times, 2% four times, and 1% ten times.
In 2023, 17% of Romanians were on a diet. More than half (59%) of the respondents consider that they have a balanced or very balanced lifestyle in terms of food, while 36% assessed that it is unbalanced or very unbalanced.
More than half (58%) of the research subjects appreciated that they do not need a diet, and 39% answered affirmatively. Among the latter, 27% would like to lose 5 kilograms, 25% would like to lose 10 kilograms, and 9% would like to lose 15 kilograms. Other subjects answered: 7 kilograms (7%), 20 kilograms (5%), 12 kilograms (5%), 8 kilograms (4%), 30 kilograms (4%), 6 kilograms (3%), 4 kilograms (3%), 3 kilograms (3%). The average of the answers is 10.13 kilograms.
How much time are respondents willing to spend preparing meals
A third (33%) of those surveyed claimed that they want a diet to be primarily healthy, 19% stated that it must be effective, while others prefer a diet that is easy to follow (17%), nutritionally balanced (16%) or easy to prepare (9%).
At the same time, 35% prefer to lose weight more slowly during a diet, and 24% more quickly.
For 90% of the respondents it is important or very important to remain nutritionally balanced.
Also, 45% are willing to allocate 30 minutes to preparing meals for the diet, 21% – 60 minutes, and 13% – 5 minutes.
In the opinion of 68% of the survey subjects, a diet must contain both salty and sweet dishes, while 12% indicated mostly salty dishes, and 8% opted mostly for sweet dishes.
Only 32% of those questioned said that they did not gain weight after the last diet, and 32% that they put on extra kilos, but less than before the diet, 18% recovered all the kilos and another 18% they gained more weight than before the diet.
The survey also revealed that in the opinion of 37% of respondents, sugars are the most fattening, followed by fats (22%) and carbohydrates (22%).
The research was done on a sample of 1,067 respondents aged 18 and over. The poll has a maximum margin of error of +/-3% at the 95% confidence level. The data collection method was face-to-face, at the respondents' homes, between February 3 and 14.
