Vegetarian Motivations or Barriers

This Canadian study sought to identify the attitudes, health-related behavior, "social adjustment," and perceptions of personal health among both vegetarian and omnivorous teenagers, with the goal of determining specific characteristics related to vegetarianism.

A study of 1,500 Chinese women showed those who ate a "meat-sweet" diet were twice as likely to develop breast cancer compared with those on a vegetable-based diet.

This thesis surveys the current vegetarian product market – including both the supply and the demand – in order to determine the development tendencies of vegetarian products and of meat alternatives in particular. The goal is to determine what market potential can be derived from the ongoing changes in consumer behaviour.

A report by the Food Climate Research Network of the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom warns that people should "ration" their meat consumption to four portions per week and their dairy consumption to one liter of milk per week to help avoid global climate change caused by animal farming.

No longer considered a "hippie fad," the vegan lifestyle is translating into significant business opportunities for some local entrepreneurs. According to this article, the $28 billion vegan market results partly from growth in the natural-products industry, which is currently estimated at $50 billion per year.

In a study released by The Lancet Oncology, Dean Ornish, M.D. and his colleagues found that comprehensive lifestyle changes, including a low-fat vegan diet, increase the body's ability to fight premature aging, cancer, heart disease, and other chronic illnesses.

This research found that children with higher intelligence, as measured through intelligence quotient (IQ) tests, are more likely to report being vegetarian as adults. Evidence of the potential benefits of a vegetarian diet to the heart may also explain why higher IQ children or adolescents have a reduced risk of coronary disease in adult life.

This 1989 MORI poll conducted on behalf of The Sunday Times found that 3% of the population of the United Kingdom are vegetarians; another 2% of respondents said they had been vegetarian in the past. The primary motivations for vegetarianism included concerns for animal welfare, health, and cost.

A nationwide poll regarding the environment shows that the majority of U.S. adults believe their personal actions are significant for protecting the environment, but slightly more than half have not heard of "environmental sustainability." Other behaviors related to the environment were also covered in this study.