What Types of Diets Are Popular Among Indonesians? Survey Results Here

Dieting is one way to maintain health and lose weight. Various types of diets are popular today, such as low-carbohydrate diets, intermittent fasting, vegan diets, ketogenic diets, and others.

So, what types of diets are commonly practiced by Indonesian citizens?

According to a survey by the Kurious-Katadata Insight Center (KIC), the majority of respondents (59.9%) diet by reducing the frequency or portion size of their meals.

Furthermore, 53.2% of respondents reduced their carbohydrate or sugar intake. Then, 45% of respondents dieted by avoiding fatty foods.

Another 45% of respondents avoided fast food.

The remaining 2.6% of respondents reported engaging in other diets, such as fasting, intermittent fasting, flour-free diets, or consuming only fruits and vegetables.

According to the Ministry of Health (Kemenkes), dieting should be done considering individual health conditions and with guidance from professionals such as nutritionists.

"A diet successful for one individual cannot simply be applied to another, because each individual has different daily needs," said the Kemenkes team on its official website, Tuesday (8/11/2022).

The following are dietary guidelines for weight loss recommended by Kemenkes:

* Avoid skipping breakfast
* Avoid sugary drinks
* Drink water before meals
* Consume foods containing soluble fiber
* Consume coffee and tea
* Avoid processed foods
* Eat slowly
* Exercise regularly
* Get enough sleep

The Kurious-KIC survey involved 875 respondents across Indonesia, with 52.1% male and 47.9% female respondents.

This specific survey on diet types involved 609 respondents who reported having dieted.

More than half of the respondents were from Java (excluding Jakarta) at 62.6%, followed by Sumatra (13.6%), and DKI Jakarta (13.5%). Respondents from Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Bali-Nusa Tenggara, and Maluku-Papua ranged from 4% to 1.3%.

Most respondents were aged 35-44 years (33.3%), followed by the 25-34 year (31%) and 45-54 year (21.5%) age groups.

Data collection was conducted from June 26 to July 7, 2023, using computer-assisted web interviewing (CAWI) with a margin of error of approximately 3.31% and a 95% confidence level.