The craver – 25%: Craves delicious food and finds it hard to stop, leading to overeating in tempting situations.
The foodie – 15%: Loves making, eating and experiencing food.
The socialiser – 15%: Flexibility is essential – you won’t let strict food restrictions stifle your social life.
The freewheeler - 4%: Makes spontaneous and impulsive food choices, finds planning meals hard.
“If you have struggled to maintain your diet after a few weeks, your personal diet type will shed light on what behaviours and habits are creating a barrier for you,” CSIRO Behavioural Scientist Dr Sinead Golley said.
“Knowing your personal Diet Type helps you maintain a healthy eating plan because you are more aware and equipped to manage moments of weakness. Successful weight loss requires a different mindset, focused on long-term total wellbeing. If you identify as 'a thinker', you can improve your eating habits by reflecting more on positive changes and rewarding progressive achievements towards your goal.”
The data revealed interesting results for the other four diet types. The second most common type, ‘the craver’ scored high for people who were obese, while people who identified with 'the foodie’ type were more likely to be a normal weight. This suggests that Cravers may need particular strategies to help them cope with strong desires for food.
When it came to differences between the generations, ‘the craver’ group had a high proportion of young adults. Older people scored high for ‘the socialiser’ type.
The CSIRO launched the new online Diet Type assessment last month to help Australians better understand their personal diet type to successfully maintain a diet. Participants fill in a short survey to receive instant, personalised feedback about the participant’s diet type profile and the right strategies to manage it. More than 28,000 completed the Diet Type assessment in the first two days after it launched. By early February more than 55,000 people have completed the assessment.
“The large number of participants using the Diet Type assessment demonstrates Australians are highly motivated to understand their personal diet type and what drives their eating habits,” CSIRO Research Director and co-author of the Total Wellbeing Diet, Professor Manny Noakes, said.
“Our goal with the diet type program is to connect people with a more personalised eating plan to deliver more sustainable, longer lasting changes in healthy eating habits.”
Click here to learn more or complete the free diet type assessment.