Do As I Say

Building on a post from earlier this summer, I find myself amazed at all the things that we (as grown adults who tell our children what to do) don’t do.

Today I am going to focus on the things that we as adults don’t just occasionally or rarely do, but actually never do at all. There’s nothing confusing or complicated about the question wording here. The following are things that many Americans never ever do:

• Put on sunscreen (37%)
• Floss (18%)
• Exercise (12%)
• Spend time relaxing and doing nothing (10%)
• Eat vegetables, raw or cooked (3%, though 18% eat dessert every day)

Now I’m neither a rocket scientist nor a doctor but I know NBC’s The More You Know ads aren’t there for nothing. And neither are the ones I see on the subway train and in my wife’s Self magazine. So at the risk of seeming a bit didactic, don’t we all still know enough?

Do As I Say

Wonder Years – The Sequel

It’s not like me to complain (or do people who complain always start off by saying that?), however in taking a look at our latest set of data, it seems I am years (we’ll keep that general) away from the best years of my life.

As we mentioned in an earlier post, the favorite average age for Americans is 29. But that next decade from 30-39 appears to be the most wondrous, at least as far as happiness, confidence, excitement and love go. Wait, what else is there?

Adults in their thirties today (that is, young Gen X and late Gen Y-ers) are more likely than those ages 40-64 to say they are:

• Happy.
• Living their life to the fullest.
• Loving their life right now.
• In love.

And here’s the bad news…. Right around the corner are 40-49 year olds who are by far the least likely cohort to say they are happy (only 31%) and much more likely than their 30-39 year old counterparts to say they wish they could do their life over again.

Upon reflection, my thirties were actually pretty good. It’s that point in our lives when everything is coming together. Ideally you experience some combo of the following – a thriving career, the love of your life, adoption or birth of children, and/or a rocking social life.

And the data suggests it’s all better before the reality of your forties beckons. Or, instead do you think that those in their thirties today will actually live this glass-is-half-full existence even as they grow older and it’s just a mark of that generation?

Are Men from Mars?

Stress is in no way an exclusively female phenomenon, but there sure are loads of articles that talk about gender differences in how men and women approach their most stressful moments (including this story about leadership written earlier this month in the Washington Post)…

Right now, 45% of us say we feel stressed in our life (more stressed than relaxed). However, that is 38% of men – and 51% of women. And, according to our most recent set of stress data, women find it harder to:

• Relax and do nothing (43% vs 29%),
• Avoid getting upset about small things (50% vs. 38%), and
• Avoid feeling anxious (64% vs 46%).

Even the stereotypical – putting work aside and focusing on one’s personal life – appears to be somewhat easier for men than it is for women.

So what underlies the greater prevalence of stress in women’s lives? It’s hard to know from our data set… except I can tell you that women say they are more likely to multi-task; less likely to get the right amount of sleep each night; and more likely to express fear about everything from spiders and heights to natural disasters and death.

Do you think stress is actually greater – and on the rise – for women (as the APA suggests) – or are men just feigning their more relaxed attitudes?

Are Men from Mars?

Let’s Eat Out

Only a minority (about 1 in 4 Americans) say they are really proud of the way they look and take very good care of their body. And eating bad food may be one of the main culprits.

More than 1 in 2 Americans say it’s hard for them to avoid “bad foods”…. So let’s take it meal by meal:

• Breakfast: On average Americans appear to skip breakfast 2 days every week and eat out on a third day.
• Lunch: For 3 out of 7 days each week, Americans either skip this meal altogether or eat out.
• Dinner: Americans say they eat a home-cooked meal for 5 out of 7 days each week, but on average they eat restaurant food or pre-cooked food from a grocery or deli on the other 2 days.

Let me break this down for you…. out of the 21 meals we Americans can potentially consume each week, we skip 2, eat restaurant food or pre-cooked food from a grocery or deli 6 times and we eat home-cooked food for only 13 meals. That’s a ratio of eating home-cooked food of only 2:1.

Unfortunately, what is good for the restaurant business is not (in most cases) good for our health. We know that restaurant food is typically tougher on our waist line (and our pocketbook) than home-cooked food is. And, I suspect that in better economic times, these figures for eating out would be even higher.

The only perceived benefits I can imagine are saving time and (of course) eating delicious food. But is it worth it?

Average Number of Meals Eaten Per Week

The Wonder Years

I loved being 30! That year was awesome. Moved to New York. Got my first job in marketing research. Purchased my first home (a condo in Piermont) and started working on Madison Avenue.

And while I don’t typically represent the norm, in this case, I’m pretty close to the rest of the United States as Americans on average say 29 was the best year of their lives.

But as with most data, we are not homogenous in our thinking here.

• As we get older, our “favorite” age increases right along with us. On average,
  • 18-29 year olds say 18.
  • 30-39 year olds say 25.
  • 40-49 year olds say 27.
  • 50-64 year olds say 34.
  • 65+ year olds say 43.
• Very few people cite anything within a 5-year range of their current age, especially as they get older.

What has been your favorite age and why?

Favorite Age, by Current Age of Respondent