Less than Half of U.S. Adults Plan on Setting 2022 New Year's Resolutions

Medifast
Published: December 15th, 2021

Medifast survey reveals seismic shift in approach to resolutions, with many focused on small lifestyle changes throughout the year

BALTIMORE, Dec. 13, 2021 // PRNewswire // - Medifast (NYSE: MED), the global company behind one of the fastest-growing health and wellness communities, OPTAVIA®, today released findings from a new survey* that revealed a shift in how U.S. adults are approaching New Year's resolutions. According to the survey, only 10% of U.S. adults stick with their resolutions and nearly half (47%) of all resolutions are broken within the first month. Furthermore, the number of people setting resolutions has decreased annually, with just 44% of U.S. adults planning to set a resolution in 2022, compared to 50% in 2021. The primary reason respondents failed to achieve their 2021 resolutions was loss of motivation (48%), followed by not having a plan (30%) or the right support (22%) and setting too many (19%) or overly ambitious goals (15%).

"While the start of the new year once served as a key moment in time to set annual health goals, many are finding that traditionally ambitious resolutions often lead to disappointment and rarely last beyond January," said Dan Chard, Chairman and CEO of Medifast. "Our independent OPTAVIA Coaches encourage Clients to adopt small changes in their daily behaviors to help develop sustainable lifelong healthy habits. Reinforced with the support of a Coach and Community, this approach has already impacted millions of lives and can help many looking for a different way to work toward their goals for the coming year."

Other notable survey findings include:

• The top three resolutions for 2022 include:
  • Focusing on financial health (49%)
  • Improving health and wellness holistically (46%)
  • Focusing on self-care or body positivity (43%)
• The majority of the U.S. adults who will set a 2022 resolution plan to take a different approach: incorporate small changes in to their daily lives throughout the year (58%), set goals that help build healthy habits (49%) and celebrate small victories (42%) along the way.
• Losing weight was the most common New Year's resolution set in 2021 (23%) but also the one most frequently broken (33%).
• To combat previous failures, two-thirds (66%) of U.S. adults would prefer to lose weight through small, daily lifestyle changes rather than fast, short-term diet plans.

Findings suggest that consumers are prioritizing health and wellbeing in all areas of their lives and searching for a better way to accomplish their goals year-round. OPTAVIA offers a radically different approach by combining both an evidence-based system for behavior change, called the Habits of Health® Transformational System, and the support of a Coach and Community. With these tools, small actions taken every day can add up to Lifelong Transformation, One Healthy Habit at a Time®.

*Methodology:
All percentages and survey findings, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 1,195 adults. The survey was fielded online between October 14 and October 15, 2021, at the 95% confidence level and with a margin of error of +/-3%. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all US adults (aged 18+).

SOURCE Medifast®