By the numbers: The changing weight-loss category

With more than one-third of Americans considered overweight or obese, it’s safe to say that natural weight-loss products will continue to be a useful tool in our collective battle of the bulge. Consumers increasingly are turning to weight-loss supplements to assist their efforts as spending reached $2.1 billion on weight-loss products in 2013, according the Nutrition Business Journal. But, in coming years, expect an even greater confluence between foods and supplements including a “new generation of genuinely functional food products” as regulators begin to take public health issues more seriously, ingredient supplier Gencor’s Paul Clayton, Ph.D., told Engredea in its recent weight-loss deep dive. Here’s some perspective.

82%
Say health is the top reason they want to lose weight

1/3

The number who want to slim down to be more attractive

$3.4 billion

Weight-loss supplement sales estimate for 2020

$586.3 billion

Total global weight-loss market (services, foods, drugs, etc.)

$215.9 billion
The largest weight-loss segment, food and beverage, reached $215.9 billion in 2014

82
Legal challenges the Federal Trade Commission filed in the last 10 years against false and unproven weight-loss claims

Source: Engredea Deep Dive: Weight Management Forecast 2015