Mayo Clinic survey finds people are most interested in losing weight for better health

A new Mayo Clinic weight loss survey of over 200,000 consumers in the U.S. found the vast majority are interested in losing weight for their personal health and not to look better for others.

“Approximately 83% of participants valued health above all other aspirations, which follows a global trend of health and wellness self-care, post COVID,” Mayo Clinic said. They also found that health “surpassed physical appearance as an aspiration by over 5x.”

The survey, titled “Diet Mindset Assessment,” was commissioned by Digital Wellness, a digital health platform that operates the Mayo Clinic Diet online program, in partnership with Mayo Clinic Press.

A total of 209,269 people completed the mindset questionnaire. 86% were females between the ages of 31 and 70 years old. The average body mass index (BMI) of people who completed the questionnaire was 32.3, with 30% being classified as overweight and 56% as obese. In this sample, 40% had dieted 1-5 times in their lifetime and 22% had dieted 6-10 times.

The CDC classifies a BMI below 18.5 as underweight, a score between 18.5 and 24.9 as a healthy weight, and a score of over 25 to 29.9 as overweight. A BMI of 30 and above is considered obese.

The new Mayo Clinic Diet is a “healthy lifestyle change program,” where members can choose from different meal plans, including vegetarian, Mediterranean, high protein and a keto program that are designed ” … to help participants make lasting, meaningful changes to their behavior so they can lead a healthier life.”

Although being motivated to lose weight is important, the survey noted the amount of motivation didn’t matter, said NBC News medical contributor Dr. Natalie Azar. “They found that people anywhere on the spectrum of motivation actually lost an equal amount of weight,” Azar noted.