How Quarantine Logging Trends Differ by Generation and Gender

How quarantine logging trends differ by generation and gender 

We’ve seen some interesting logging trends since quarantine began, and this week we wanted to know how they differed by the age and gender of our loggers. We took a look at Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z to further understand how their food and exercise logging has changed since quarantine began, and here’s what we found!

First, we took a look at the data by generation. 

Baby Boomers (born 1946 – 1964)

Gen X (born 1965 – 1980)

Millennials (born 1981 – 1996)

Gen Z (born 1997 – 2001)

Then, we took a look at implied gender to understand how logging habits differed among men and women. 

 

Exercise is trending up for older generations.

Both men and women from Baby Boomers, Gen X, and Millennial generations have increased exercise logging since quarantine began by a minimum of 5%. Gen X women have seen the highest increase in exercise by 10%. 

Gen Z, on the other hand, has actually shown a decrease in exercise logging by 6% for women and 2% for men.

Weight Lifting is unsurprisingly decreasing.

With gyms closed and hand weights on back order, we’re not surprised to see a decrease in weight lifting. Usually logged mostly by men, we’ve seen a dip across all generations with a 4% decrease for both Male Boomers and Gen X, an 8% decrease for Male Millennials and a 9% decrease for Male Gen Z. 

Food logging has increased for older generations.

While males across all generations show a higher increase in overall food logging than females, this especially reigns true for older generations. Male Boomers are logging food 15% more than before quarantine, compared to Male Gen X up 8%, Male Millennials up 7%, and Male Gen Z up only 2%.

Female increases have been smaller than their male counterparts, but we’ve still seen an increase across most generations of females with food logging for Female Boomers up 11%, Female Gen X logging up 2%, Female Millennial logging up 5% and Female Gen Z showing no change in food logging volume.

Most generations have shown an affinity for coffee and red wine.

Coffee is one of the top logged items for Boomers, Gen X, and Millennials with an average increase for both genders of 8%. Red wine is also in the top three for Boomers and Gen X, with an average increase in logging of 25%. 

While Millennials share the coffee cravings of older generations, we’ve actually seen a drastic increase in avocado consumption for female Millennials and 2% milk for male Millennials. Both Millennial genders have also shown an affinity for white rice with logging up 18%, something they share with younger Gen Z’ers who have shown an 8% increase in white rice logging across both genders. 

Exercise preferences differ by generation.

As some generations focus on getting their steps in, others choose a more sedentary lifestyle. Boomers, Gen X, and Millennials have all shown an increase in exercise by a minimum of 5%, while Gen Z’ers have actually decreased exercise logging by 4%. 

When we look at preferred types of exercise, we see that older generations seem to prefer walking, biking, and running while younger generations prefer high intensity exercise and running. 

When looking at men vs. women when it comes to exercise preferences, it looks like females Boomers, Gen X, and Millennials have increased exercise logging more than their male counterparts. 

For Gen Z’ers, we’ve actually seen female exercise logging decrease by 6%, compared to a 2% decrease in exercise logging for their male counterparts.

Women are opting for fruits & veggies while men are favoring carbs and dairy options. 

As we take a look at the top foods logged for each generation and gender, we see a trend in women logging increased volumes of fruits and veggies over other foods compared to pre-quarantine. Salad greens, blueberries, avocados, and strawberries are listed in the top foods for women across generations, while we see 2% milk and white rice reigning strong for men across generations. 

Bottom Line

It’s interesting to see how members’ food and exercise logging habits differ by age and gender. This study has shown us that older members are showing higher increases in food and exercise logging, while younger generations show lower increases in food logging and even decreases in exercise logging since quarantine began. 

So who would we consider the most focused on their weight loss goals? With food intake increasing only 2% since quarantine began and exercise up 10%, Gen X females take the crown, getting their steps in daily by walking (up 10%), running, (up 11%) and home maintenance (up 2%) and increasing their intake of foods like coffee, blueberries, and even red wine!