Are you Googling your sugar?

If Google is anything to go by, it seems we are more worried about sugar than fat in our diets.

A new article has been published which uses Google Trends to compare how often the phrases “low fat” and “low sugar” were entered in the world’s most popular internet search engine.

According to the article:

• The term “low fat” shows a distinctive saw-tooth pattern with interest in this phrase attenuated during the holiday season, followed by a sharp rise in the number of searches at the beginning of each year.
• The search phrases “diet”, “weight loss”, “healthy food” and “quit smoking” show a similar pattern, suggesting that these searches are indeed a reflection of a common desire to modify unhealthy behavior at the start of the new year.
• The popularity of the search phrase “low fat” has declined gradually since at least 2004, the earliest year for which data are available. In contrast, searches for “low sugar” have become increasingly common and the phrase will probably overtake “low fat” in popularity this year.
• A potential pitfall of this analysis is that a search phrase may have multiple meanings. For instance, the words “low sugar” may also have been entered by people worried about low blood glucose levels.
• In recent years, the curve for “low sugar” has started to show a typical saw-tooth pattern similar to “low fat”, suggesting that the phrase is increasingly entered by people seeking to change their dietary habits as part of their new year’s resolutions rather than those with concerns about hypoglycaemia.

What does this mean? More people are starting to seek information and advice on cutting down sugar in their diets…which leaves us feeling optimistic about future obesity rates. 

Follow the link to read full article.