The end of the year brings a lot of things, such as holidays, time together with family and of course, colder weather in much of the country. The colder weather also means that cold and flu season is in full force (actually January and February are typically peak flu months).
So in this month’s edition of Weird but True we decided to highlight a recent survey we had Harris Interactive conduct for our client Sambucol Black Elderberry dietary supplement that had to do with winter-time illness.
If you have not been sick recently you should consider yourself lucky, because just less than one quarter of adult respondents (23%) surveyed reported not getting sick over the past five years. Some viruses can be more severe than others and the symptoms can range from person to person, but 32% of those who responded said the last time they got the flu they were sick for more than a week. That is a lot of lost productivity! Furthermore, a quarter of adults reported being so sick they could hardly function and one out of 10 reported being so sick they thought they might die!
Flu shots might help, but more than half of adults (56%) say they don’t get them. The list of reasons for not getting one varied from those who don’t believe they work (23%), to flu shots are just for the elderly or immune-compromised (23%), to those who don’t have health insurance (11%), are afraid of needles (10 %), don’t have time (9%) and everything in between.
While a quarter of adults say health is a top priority in their lives and one out of 10 adults constantly worries about their health, many are not doing well when it comes to taking care. Americans are saying they don’t get enough exercise (50%), don’t get enough sleep (40%), are stressed out (38%), feel tired frequently (33%), often feel run down (25%) and get sick frequently (4%).
So what are people using as a defense against winter illness? The Sambucol survey found that more and more adults are turning to natural products to help defend their body. In fact, we found that 80% reported using some form of a natural product in the past 12 months for their potential health benefits. The most popular was a multi-vitamin with more than half of adults (56%) reporting taking them, followed by vitamin C (43%) and green tea (35%). Some berries, including cranberries/cranberry juice (33%) and blueberries (22%) are used for their health benefits, while just 2% report using elderberry (a good reason to start a PR campaign!). Now go take your supplements!