Are Younger Catholics Abandoning Fish On Fridays?

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A young parishioner carries plates filled with fried fish and potatoes to a table during a Lenten Friday fish fry at St. Frances Cabrini Catholic Church in Littleton, Colo., in 2009.

A young parishioner carries plates filled with fried fish and potatoes to a table during a Lenten Friday fish fry at St. Frances Cabrini Catholic Church in Littleton, Colo., in 2009.

It's Friday, and it's Lent. Maybe those of you raised Catholic, as I was, remember tuna noodle casserole, sticks, or the Friday night fish fry?

Seafood consumption typically increases during Lent in the U.S. But Harry Balzer of the survey firm NPD Group says younger Americans are less likely to follow the tradition.

Over the past 25 years, NPD finds, the number of 18- to 34-year-olds who report eating fish at home during the Lenten season has dropped noticeably from 66 percent in 1988 to 54 percent in 2012. Among older Americans, however, consumption remains steady. The data come from a survey that tracks the eating and drinking trends of a representative sample of households in the U.S.

So does this mean that young Catholics are being less observant of the church's rule about abstaining from meat on Fridays? It's not clear.

The data sorted respondents by age but not religion so we can't know which ones were Catholic. But presumably, Balzer says, Catholics are the driving force behind the annual increase in fish consumption in the U.S. during Lenten months.

"There's no question that there's a structural change in the role of seafood in the diet of younger people," Balzer says.

So what explains the change? Balzer says it's likely a combination of factors: Fish isn't exactly convenient to prepare, it can be expensive, and maybe younger people don't like fish as much as their parents' generation does. Balzer says, presumably, religion plays a role too.

But Scott Richert, who writes about Catholicism for About.com and other outlets, offers another possible interpretation of NPD's data.

From his observations, Richert tells The Salt, younger Catholics are more observant not less of the church's rules regarding abstaining from meat on Fridays. For many, he says, it's year-round, not just during Lent. It's possible, Richert suggests, that more young Catholics are eating non-seafood alternatives to meat.

"With the cultural mainstreaming of vegetarianism and veganism in recent years," Richert says via email, "maybe young people are choosing pasta or other alternatives." Richert has compiled some Lenten recipes here, many of which contain no seafood at all.

So why is it that many Catholics around the world abstain from meat on Fridays, particularly during Lent?

"The spiritual purpose of Friday abstinence is a communal penance to recall the Lord's passion," writes Raymond J. de Souza, an ordained Catholic priest in Canada, who is a frequent contributor to the National Catholic Register. And as he writes in this article, "Friday abstinence is a relatively easy way to give witness at work, at school and even in the family."

So if you're Catholic practicing, lapsed or somewhere in between let us know what you think: Fish on Fridays? Vegetarian alternatives? Or have you given up on the whole idea of Lenten abstinence?

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Gluten Goodbye: One particular -Third Of Americans Say They're Making an attempt To Shun It

Gluten avoidance has turn out to be a lot more well known than dieting.

Sure, we know that gluten- absolutely free is the Jennifer Lawrence of food trends. But we were nonetheless startled to hear that one -third of Americans say they are trying to steer clear of gluten. Really ?

So we checked in with Harry Balzer, the foods numbers king for client survey firm NPD Group. He stated that not only is that amount for real, but he thinks it can be a very little minimal.

" All over the beginning of 2012 this issue starts to rise, and it has however to peak," Balzer says. " Suitable now 29 % of the adult population says, 'I'd like to lower back or steer clear of gluten absolutely.' "

Without a doubt, he says, folks in his biweekly survey of one,000 individuals had been a lot more very likely to say they're attempting to go gluten- free than to say they are dieting.

That's interesting, since less than 1 % of folks have celiac disorder, according to the National Institutes of Overall health. These folks can't tolerate gluten, a protein in wheat, rye and barley. For them, steering clear of gluten is the only way to keep away from painful gastrointestinal difficulties and other symptoms triggered by this autoimmune disorder.

But if the other 28 % of individuals will not have celiac, why are they striving to shun gluten?

It could be that they're delicate to gluten. As we have previously reported, a tiny amount of studies have discovered that folks who never have celiac can nonetheless have difficulties digesting gluten.

Or they could just feel it sounds healthful.

After all, when not every person may well feel they have the health difficulties to justify cutting back on salt or excess fat, Balzer notes, " everybody has digestive difficulties everyone."

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Skinny Isn't All That: Survey Finds Fewer American Ladies Are Dieting

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Fewer ladies are dieting and fewer men and women agree that thinner always equals additional desirable, according to NPD's newest survey of nationwide consuming trends.

Fewer women are dieting and fewer folks agree that thinner automatically equals far more beautiful, according to NPD's most current survey of national eating trends.

Our perceptions about dieting and our attitudes about overweight individuals are shifting, according to a new survey by the NPD Group.

" Girls are major the decline in dieting," according to Harry Balzer, NPD's chief meals marketplace analyst. In a survey of 3,800 adults, he found that about 23 % of ladies reported staying on a diet in 2012. That's a considerable drop from the 35 % who mentioned they have been dieting back in 1992.

And increasingly, Americans look to be a lot more accepting of a very little added body fat, which a recent study observed may be related with residing longer.

Look at this question, which has been on NPD's National Eating Trends survey for decades:

"Do you agree or disagree with this statement: Individuals who are not overweight seem a great deal much more eye-catching ?"

In 1985, the majority of Americans surveyed 55 percent agreed that staying thin was a great deal far more appealing than being heavy.

But now? Fewer than 1 in four agree. It appears that as additional of us became a very little heavier, we changed our views.

As for trends in dieting, it truly is tough to know what is actually changing here.

Another national survey that we have reported on, performed by the Global Meals Data Council, finds a barely perceptible drop in the amount of Americans who say they are dieting (55 percent in 2012, compared to 56 percent in 2007).

It is totally doable that quite a few of us are watching what we consume and consciously limiting calories, but we're just not calling it a " diet program." So perhaps the term " diet regime " is turning into passe.

"The newer considering is personal empowerment for adjust, and generating smaller adjustments over time that are doable for the individual," says Madelyn Fernstrom of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

"A diet plan is some thing you can go on and off," says Fernstrom, who has studied bodyweight and nutrition issues for numerous many years. But "a life style is 'life' you happen to be always engaged," she tells The Salt in an email.

As for the changing acceptance of overweight, Balzer says it can be a important shift.

" There is not a lot of items [in terms of shifting public opinion ] that have moved as speedily as this," says Balzer.

So as we appear into the societal mirror, probably bigger has develop into the new norm. And lots of us are not even actually conscious of the shift. As my colleague Shankar Vedantam has reported, what used to be a dimension eight dress for girls in the 1950s has become a size zero in this decade.

As for the survey findings, Fernstrom writes, "I assume this reflects a transform in how all people are viewed." Thin does not always equal appealing in the eyes of several persons.

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