Who Cares?
Who Does?
Health
Decoding Wellness
How mental and physical health needs are re-shaping habitsaround the world
Decoding Wellness How mental and physical health needs are re-shaping habits around the world
Breaking the barriers to better health
Bridging the 'say-do' gap
Path to wellbeing
SUMMARY
Meaningfully different
Food for Thought
The wellness contradiction
Globally, people are clear about who holds responsibility for their health: themselves. An emphatic 78% declare their wellbeing is firmly in their own hands. In Latin America, the sentiment is even stronger — 86% proclaim self-responsibility. Yet, when it comes to actively nurturing that wellbeing, many appear to fall short. Barely half say they proactively engage with their physical health, and even fewer invest the effort into their mental wellbeing. It’s a revealing contradiction: a world of individuals who acknowledge the burden of responsibility but struggle to move from saying something must be done, to doing something about it.
Adding to the complexity, it is noteworthy that only 56% of people feel they are doing well or very well on both physical and mental health fronts. These numbers vary significantly across regions — 53% in Europe, 55% in Latin America and the United States, 58% in Africa and the Middle East, and notably higher at 68% in Asia Pacific. Wellbeing remains a significant challenge, especially as obesity rates continue to climb in many countries. In the United States, for example, official figures show that 42% of the population is classified as obese.
Beyond self-reliance
Interestingly, even as individuals accept the lion’s share of responsibility for their health, they are also clear about needing help from others. Nearly half of shoppers (49%) say brands should play a role in ensuring a healthier life — rising to 56% in the US. Governments, too, are expected to step up, with 47% of people saying they expect policy support for better health, a sentiment expressed even more strongly in Africa and the Middle East, where 61% expect action.
So what’s stopping people from taking action themselves? As is often the case, a major barrier is cost. While shoppers around the world are eager to adopt healthier lifestyles, many feel they’re being priced out of making the right choices. This feeling is likely amplified by stubbornly high inflation levels in recent years. The cost of nutritious food is a significant hurdle, with half of global shoppers expressing frustration over the high prices of healthy options. This tension between desire and affordability is not only a localised concern but a widespread issue. In Chapter 2, we explore in more depth how this struggle between preference and practicality plays out.
Beyond cost, there are deeper factors that appear to hold people back from achieving their best health. The three biggest factors cited by shoppers as having a negative impact on health are stress, weight issues, and an unbalanced diet. Stress stands out as the dominant barrier — a universal concern. Weight management and poor dietary choices further complicate the path to wellness, making the burden heavier.
A moment for brands
This mix of self-reliance and external expectation reveals a paradox — and an opportunity. People want to be in control of their health, but they want brands and governments to help make that control possible, to help turn intent into action. Critically, they ask for affordability and solutions to address the obstacles they face. For brands, this is a moment to step up: to turn aspirations for better wellbeing into achievable outcomes. People expect brands to be partners in progress, making healthier choices practical and inviting. This is about making those choices affordable and accessible while also tackling the underlying stressors and challenges that people face.
Our exclusive findings are drawn from over 103,000 people represented in Kantar’s purchase panels across 35 markets and four continents, with the collaboration of YouGov and Europanel. The research and analysis help us see beyond the numbers and into people’s lives. It connects what people say they care about to what they do about it.
This is where the role of behavioural data becomes crucial for brands. While most ad hoc qualitative research highlights what people say, Kantar’s behavioural and purchasee data also reveals what people actually do.
Understanding the gap between intention and action can reveal hidden barriers, unspoken needs, or unexpected motivations.
From there, brands can pinpoint access points to support healthier lifestyles — whether through more relevant products, better communication, or seamless service solutions.
As you’ll discover in this report, our global research journey took us from the stressed-out to the optimistic. Along the way, we found that people fell into distinct segments when managing their wellbeing. Understanding these segments — Health Actives, Health Moderates, and Health Passives — is central to unlocking new spaces for brands to act.
The opportunity lies in helping people in these segments overcome their barriers, whether reducing the cost of healthier choices, addressing stress, or offering guidance on balanced diets. Hint: none of these things are mutually exclusive, but predisposing people to these related opportunities is part of the journey.
