Women Tell All About Their Relationship with Chocolate

Survey Reveals Sweet Insights On How Chocolate Fits Their Lifestyles

A survey exploring women’s special relationship with chocolate, America’s favorite flavor for desserts and sweet snacks, reveals both that most women enjoy chocolate regularly and that they don’t feel guilty about consuming this favorite food.

The survey, conducted by the Chocolate Manufacturers Association, explored women’s feelings about how chocolate fits their lifestyles. Out of 1,022 U.S. women surveyed, 93 percent said they eat chocolate, representing 969 women who were surveyed further.

Here are highlights of the survey:

• Milk Chocolate Preferred
  The majority of women said they prefer milk chocolate (67 percent) over dark chocolate (27 percent), with 45-54 year old women representing the age group that enjoys dark chocolate the most.
• Guilt-Free Indulgence
  Despite what one might think, eating chocolate does not make women feel guilty, with 69 percent reporting that they never or only rarely feel guilty when they eat chocolate. Only 3 percent said they always feel guilty.
• Enjoy Chocolate Regularly
  Sixty-five percent of women surveyed said they eat chocolate candy or chocolate desserts at least weekly while 15 percent say they enjoy chocolate daily.
• Chocolate Fits
  Eaten in moderation, 86 percent of women agree, chocolate fits a healthy lifestyle. In addition, 73 percent agree that there are no “good foods” and no “bad foods”; it is the overall diet that counts.
• Happy Food
  In addition to pure enjoyment, 52 percent of women said eating chocolate makes them happy. Forty-six percent of women noted that they eat chocolate as a pick-me-up, and 35 percent said eating chocolate simply makes them feel good.
• Chocolate Gifts
  Most women have received chocolate as a gift, with 65 percent saying they received chocolate one or more times in the 12 months preceding the survey.

Women also shared their thoughts on several common chocolate health and nutrition topics. The results showed that while some chocolate myths are firmly dispelled, a few prevail. Most women know that chocolate does not cause acne (62 percent), and most no longer link chocolate to migraine headaches (56 percent).

Confusion still reigns, however, on the topic of hyperactivity among kids. While decades of scientific research indicate neither chocolate nor other sweet foods cause hyperactivity, 55 percent of women still think chocolate does. Women also believe chocolate contains more caffeine than it really does. Only 27 percent of respondents agreed with the statement, “chocolate contains very little caffeine.” In reality, a typical 1.5 ounce milk chocolate bar contains about the amount of caffeine in one cup of decaffeinated coffee.

Slightly more than half of the women surveyed believe chocolate has some nutritional benefits (52 percent). Only 25 percent agreed, however, with the statement that chocolate contains antioxidant substances that may help guard against heart disease. This is the case despite the growing body of ongoing research that indicates these components of chocolate may help maintain a healthy heart.

When asked how healthy they considered their overall lifestyle on a scale of 1-10 (10 being very healthy), 74 percent rated their lifestyles a 6 or higher, 17 percent rated their lifestyles a 5 and only 7 percent rated themselves below 5 (2 percent didn’t know).