Laurence Gould, author of Datmonitor's latest survey on diet trends in Europe and the US, says that consumer surveys and trends in advertising reveal increasing recognition among the dieting public - 29 per cent of the EU's adults and 44 per cent of American adults - that extreme diets cannot produce sustained weight loss.
Instead the consumer is trying to do more exercise - health club membership in Europe is forecast to rise to 26 million by 2008 from 22 million in 2002 - and make small, easy changes to their diets.
"Consumers are increasingly looking to make little lifestyle changes to control their weight. By incorporating smaller, manageable chunks of activity into their routine, they are more likely to follow these changes for longer than if they were to make more drastic ones and avoid going back to their old ways," explained Gould.
The analyst suggests that the low-carb fad has increased cynicism about dieting. Almost 90 per cent of people who embark on a diet gain the weight back within a year, according to Datamonitor, which reduces faith in diet products. Branded diet regimes such as Atkins may suffer most from this kind of cynicism, and Atkins' withdrawal from the UK this week is evidence of this, says Gould.
Further evidence of a more realistic approach to dieting is emerging from the clothing sector.
"General expectations about what a normal body shape is are changing," Gould told NutraIngredients.com. "And retailers are reacting to this."
Led by clothing makers in the US, European firms such as La Redoute in France are beginning to offer larger sizes in styles not usually considered appropriate for bigger women. Supporting this shift, advertising campaigns no longer use only skinny women.
Food manufacturers should seek to profit from this moderation trend by producing smaller portions and focusing campaigns around a 'get moving' theme, advises the report.
"Manufacturers need to show consumers they are on their side through products which will allow the consumer to take steps that can implemented immediately without disruption to their daily life," added Gould.
"It is not so much a question of developing new products but increasing dietary information and educating consumers on a healthy lifestyle in a way that is more actionable for them," he explained.
The early adopters of this approach include British retailers like Sainsbury and Tesco, both of which have 'diet' ranges that do not include this word on packaging. Instead their ranges are branded as 'healthy', often emphasising heart health, a major issue associated with obesity.
Companies could work in conjunction with government and health organisations to help them communicate this approach, added the analyst.
This more moderate approach will favour products with a low glycaemic index, increasingly promoted in some European markets.
The increasingly cynical consumer will not however stop buying diet foods, suggests Datamonitor, predicting that European and US consumer spend on diet-related food and drink will still grow substantially, from US$86.8 billion 2003 to over US$100 billion in 2008 based on rising rates of obesity.
By 2008, rates of overweight and obesity in Europe are set to reach 53 per cent, with many Britons, Germans and Spanish already as fat as Americans.
For more information on the Dieting Trends report, contact Datamonitor.