Tag Archives: survey

A Nation Of Secret Chocolate Lovers…

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Montezume chocolate bar reviewPrezzybox.com surveyed 886 people from all over the UK on their chocolate eating habits. They found some fun, weird and amazing facts.

  • An Astounding 57.2% of would rather have chocolate once per rather than sex.…. 1.3% of men agreed!
  • 78.5% of workers admit stealing chocolate from the communal work fridge
  • 83.1% of women have bought chocolate as a gift for a friend – but eaten it before they could give their friend it!
  • Women in London are the least likely to share a chocolate bar 1.1% (it’s mine!)
  • Women in York are the most likely to share a bar of chocolate 11%
  • 71.7% of women eat a family sized chocolate bar on their own at least TWICE per year.
  • 13.3% of women would rather admit to sleeping with a stranger, rather than admit stealing their mates chocolate.
  • Liverpool residents eat the most chocolate in the UK per year, 14kg WOW!
  • The average UK resident munches their way through 10kg of chocolate per year
  • Men (sex sign) spend £36 per year on chocolate (this includes valentines) Tight!
  • Women (sex sign) spend £57 per year on chocolate
  •  A perfect night includes chocolate for 68.3% of women
  •  74.7% of women secretly buy and eat a chocolate bar at least once per week (diet starts tomorrow?)
  •  Men eat 41% more dark chocolate than women.
  •  Women eat 54% more white chocolate then men.

 

Top 5 Friendly Towns & cities where chocolate is shared by women.

  1. York 11%
  2. Newcastle 10.3%
  3. Huddersfield 8.7%
  4. Portsmouth 8.5%
  5. Manchester 8.4%

5 Towns & cities where chocolate is LEAST shared by women.

  1. London 1.1%
  2. Leicester 1.78%
  3. Hull 3.3%
  4. Nottingham 3.4%
  5. Leeds 4.7%

Top 5 Chocolate Eaters in the UK, average per person per year.

  1. Liverpool 14kg per year
  2. Hull 13.57kg
  3. Glasgow 13.34 Kg
  4. Sheffield 12.6 Kg
  5. Cardiff 12.01 Kg

Dads deserve a rest this Fathers Day as survey shows they spend over 50 hours a week helping out at home

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– Dads spend 53.5 hours a week helping households run smoothly

– Value of a Dad’s domestic contribution is £24,000 per year

– Fathers in the West Midlands and Scotland do the most washing up at 3.5 hours a week.

Who said men don’t help out around the house?  Apparently dads spend seven and a half hours a day helping households run smoothly according to a study from Legal & General Life Insurance, This equals an impressive 53.5 hours a week.

The total includes time spent cooking, cleaning and looking after children. If families had to pay for this work by employing cleaners or child minders they would have to find an extra £23,971 a year showing Dads are helping cut down on household bills. The figure is up 13% from when the survey was last carried out in 2011, when a father’s help was worth £21,306.  As a contrast the survey also showed the day to day cost of raising a child has risen to £8,580 per year since 2011, meaning parents now spend £154,440 on each child by the age of 18.

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Dads who live in the North East are the most valuable to their households contributing £33,925 a year in domestic duties. Dads in the South West spend the least amount of time with their children at 18.5 hours a week.  Fathers in the West Midlands and Scotland top the tables for washing up spending 3.5 hours a week doing the dishes.  Dads across the UK do between 5-7 hours of cooking each week.

Despite the heavy costs of bringing up a child the research showed that many parents do not have adequate protection in place should they or their partner become ill or die.  Only 31% of parents have a will putting their children at risk of financial insecurity should the worst happen.  Similarly only 29% of parents have critical illness cover in place and a mere 14% have income protection.

 

Women over 32 less impressed with men in suits compared to women in their twenties

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LIP Shameless BG _A2The Power Suit

Women in their 20s more attracted to a man in a suit than women over 32

 

At Frost we love a man in a suit, while the men, erm, don’t really have an opinion. Women of all ages cannot deny men in suits are exceptionally attractive, turning even the average looking man into a fine-looking gentleman.  However, it seems some ladies aren’t as mesmerised by the tailored suit as others.  According to a new survey women over 32 are less impressed with a man in a suit than women in their twenties.

 

The survey carried out by bespoke tailors, King & Allen, used an online dating site* to conduct a picture survey.  Twenty men from different backgrounds and sizes, and aged between 23 and 38, were each photographed wearing casual clothes and then traditional suits.  Women aged between 18 and 38 were invited to rate the men on their overall looks.  The suited men were rated considerably higher in desirability than their casual counterparts.

 

To give the findings a scientific explanation, a new study called The Journal of Social Experimental Psychology, led and conducted by Professor Adam D. Galinsky of the Northwestern University in the US, revealed that wearing certain clothes really does altar cognitive performance and perception.*

 

Jake Allen, co-founder of King & Allen says:  “We were surprised by the findings but it seems women in their twenties associate men wearing tailored suits with success, wealth and high status.

 

“Women in their thirties are far more experienced in the workplace than those in their twenties. They may find the tailored suit a reminder of their job and are so accustomed to the suit, it becomes less desirable outside the work environment. “

 

Mr Allen concludes, ‘To support the scientific research, our customers are always saying that they feel at least ten times more confident and a couple of inches taller when wearing one of our suits.”

 

KIDS DON’T JUST SAY THE FUNNIEST THINGS…THEY EAT THEM TOO

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Toddlers’ eating habits cost UK families millions of pounds in damages a year, but what is the real cost to their health?

A SURVEY RELEASED today reveals that the nation’s toddlers regularly have mouths full of mum’s jewellery and chew on family essentials like car keys and cameras – with the average toddler costing mum and dad £60 in damages during their first three years[1], equating to a shocking nationwide loss of over £14.5 million a year[2].

Cow & Gate Growing Up Milk, who commissioned the survey to highlight the hard to get nutrients required to support toddler growth and development, found 21 per cent of parents’ bundles of joy caused more damage in the home than the family pet1! With 86 per cent of children spending up to 30 minutes per day1 chewing or sucking on household items like remote controls, which came top of the carnage list of items most commonly damaged1.

In light of additional research reporting that the typical UK toddler is more likely to have eaten a burger than broccoli[3], the new poll shows that a supper of crayons, keys and toys is commonplace for our little ones.

Released to coincide with Cow & Gate’s new TV advert, the survey also reveals that inquisitive taste buds are not limited to the household, with creepy crawlies also appearing on this unusual menu of toddler fare, with a quarter of children chowing down on between five and fifteen insects, worms and slugs in their first five years1. It’s not just the celebrities participating in Bushtucker Trials it seems!

Whilst “mouthing” is not to be discouraged, Doctor Leanne Olivier, nutritionist and spokesperson for Cow & Gate, comments: “It’s common for little ones to put weird and wacky things in their mouths, from cushions to remote controls, but they won’t find the essential nutrients they need to support their amazing growth there! A healthy balanced diet including just two beakers of Growing Up Milk[4] each day is a simple way to provide little ones with the hard to get nutrition that they need.”

Dr Richard Woolfson, child psychologist for Growing Up Milk, adds: “The results of this survey confirm that “mouthing” is very common amongst toddlers. It’s simply another form of exploration and discovery. Mouthing lets curious and inquisitive toddlers learn about the object’s texture, resistance, taste and structure. That’s why you need to watch closely – your toddler will happily mouth anything they get their hands on, big or small, safe or hazardous.”

Toddler Tasting Tactics – Some bitesize facts:

· The top ten items that toddlers most commonly put in their mouths are: toys (17%), crayons and pencils (16%), remote control (13%), keys (11%), camera, phone and iPod (10%), soft toys (9%), plastic plates and bowls (6%), items of clothing (5%), security blanket (4%) and jewellery (3%)1

· Over a quarter (28%) of toddlers have eaten more than five insects, worms and slugs in their first five years1

· 30 per cent of toddlers mark their territory and display the first signs of ownership by sucking on their beloved security blankets, soft toys and toys1

· More than half of parents (57%) say that their toddler has damaged something in the home as a result of “mouthing” 1

· 7 per cent of frustrated parents state that their toddler frequently causes damage in the home, causing destruction more than four times a month1

 

Beware 18:00 on Saturdays in December!

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Brits lose £2bn of items a year with most losses at 6pm on Saturdays in December

Figures released highlight the need for Brits to protect their belongings as we reach the most dangerous time of year for losing things. According to the research – commissioned by www.mozy.co.uk, the world’s most trusted provider of online back up and data access solutions – more items are lost at 18:00 on Saturdays in December than at any other time of the year.

The transition from work to weekend, and Saturday-afternoon Christmas shopping to Saturday-night Christmas celebrations, appears to create the perfect conditions for loss with nearly as many items going missing on Fridays and Saturdays as the rest of the week put together.

And people travelling through Aberdeen, Birmingham and London should be extra cautious since these three cities form the Bermuda Triangle for lost property with more items reported lost or stolen there than any other cities in the UK.

A whopping 30 per cent of Brits lose two or more belongings a year and, globally, less than half of lost items are ever recovered. With the average Brit mislaying more than £80 worth of possessions in the past 12 months, this amounts to well over £2billion of lost property in the UK this year.

The most commonly-lost item is the smartphone which accounts for 35% of all item lost by men and 25% by women globally. In line with this trend, 70% of people have lost electronic gadgets, such as smartphones, laptops and MP3 players, which is all the more upsetting because losing these items not only means losing an expensive device but also the data that is held on it.

Claire Galbois-Alcaix from Mozy commented: “’Getting carried away’ and ‘carrying too much’ were two of the top reasons for losing things and dashing home from work to get to a seasonal party or bustling back after a day of Christmas shopping are great examples of these. Going straight from work to a party, laptop bag in hand, or snapping the festive fun with the camera on your smartphone puts more than just the devices themselves at risk though. As the research shows, it’s the vital work on the laptop or the irreplaceable pictures on your phone that people really hate to lose. That’s why we’re urging everyone to backup the content on their devices before they get to the most dangerous time of the year. It’s simple to do and you can even do it for free.”

Reinforcing how important backup is, 57 per cent of respondents said they would be more upset about losing the data on a device than the device itself. So valuable, in fact, is the information on smartphones that, rather than just getting a replacement device, 97 per cent of people who had dropped their phone down a toilet said that they had tried to retrieve it.

Some of the most common things that people reported finding were money (in some cases as much as £3000), bags, pets and jewellery – though more than 15 sets of false teeth were reported found by the research respondents. More unusually, mummified dogs, a C17th cannon ball and a winning scratch card were all uncovered.

The best hope for recovering lost items is for someone else to return them, the research found. 52 per cent of items that found their way home came at the hands of a conscientious stranger, compared to just 11.5 per cent of items that were rediscovered by their owners. Beware though, whilst 61 per cent of people have found an item that wasn’t theirs and 52 per cent successfully returned them, 16 per cent kept the item for themselves and six per cent sold it.

When it comes to looking for lost items, almost 90% of Brits give up looking for an item after a week – only the USA look for less time (92%). The Germans are the most persistent with over a quarter of respondents continuing their search for a month or more. Interestingly, the Germans are also the country least likely to lose belongings with 64% of respondents claiming not to have lost anything (compared to a global average of 51%) in the last 12 months, and the highest proportion of people who had lost items saying they had only lost one item (14%). Going against the lucky stereotype, the Irish are the most likely to lose items (36%).

Regional differences also appeared in the type of items that are lost and how they are lost too. Fashion-conscious French are twice as likely to lose a favourite item of clothing than the Brits and four times as likely as Germans. Americans are twice as likely to lose laptops as Germans and four times as likely to lose their keys. Germans however are two-and-a-half times as likely to lose their purse or wallet as Brits or the French. Americans are four times as likely as Germans to lose an item because they ‘got carried away’.

Top ten things that go missing (global):

1) Smartphone

2) Jewellery

3) Sunglasses

4) Keys

5) Bank/credit card

6) Clothing

7) Umbrella

8) Purse/wallet

9) ID

10) Paperwork

The five things people are most upset to lose:

1) Bank card

2) Laptop

3) Smartphone

4) ID

5) Wallet/purse

Looney Losses – some of the most unusual things people reported finding:

– 1947 Florin

– £3000 in £10 notes

– A chicken

– A handcuff key

– A hogs pudding

– A black pearl in a shell

– A small antique clock

– £100,000 in vouchers

– A bag of worms

– A bowler hat

– C17th cannonball

– False teeth

– Mummified dog

– Rolex

– Unexploded bomb

– A safe

– A full bank deposit bag

– A samurai sword

– A .45 calibre handgun

– A draft screen play

– A parakeet

– A little black book

– An antler

– A cucumber in an umbrella stand

– One Prada shoe

– Two guinea pigs

– A rowing machine

– A cash register

– A winning scratch card

– A gold tooth

 

Potter’s Herbal Elixir of Echinacea Plus & Kwai Heart + Immune Supplements | Health Review

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miranda kerrAs winter comes in colds are inevitable. Echinacea is well known to ward of colds and boost the immune system, but does it really work?

The first thing I have to say about Potter’s Herbals Elixir of Echinacea is how nice it tastes, rare for something that is good for you. I am more used to taking pills but taking the elixir is no problem. I take it three times a day and I don’t get a cold, and feel that I have been given a health boost. In fact when I get more busy and forgot to take it for a while I ended up getting a cold. I start taking the Echinacea again and I immediately feel better. I think it works and I am impressed. It even makes my skin clearer.

I also start taking Kwai Heart+Immune with vitamins A, C and E; 30 tablets RRP £6.12; 100 tablets £16.33; Available from Boots. When I first take it I worry that I will smell of garlic but a friend says I don’t. After I start taking the supplement I feel much more energetic and healthier. The Pills are also easy to swallow.  My skin tone also improves when I am taking the pills. With the Kwai Heart+Immune and Potter’s Herbals Elixir of Echinacea I am all set for winter.

Commenting on Kwai Heart+Immune, independent dietitian Dr Carrie Ruxton says: “It is now well accepted that vitamins A and C and garlic have a vital role in supporting a normal immune function, while vitamin E is a potent antioxidant, helping to protect cells from oxidative stress which leads to cell damage. Human research on garlic shows that it is antimicrobial and can reduce levels of harmful bacteria and viruses which cause disease.”

The immune system as you know is crucial to help prevent colds/flu/virues and potentillay fatal illnesses. New research by the Henry Potter Advisory Committee also reveals that nearly half of 2,000 respondents in survey (46.4%) believe that they appear physically less attractive when their immune system is lower, with nearly one quarter (23.9%) stating that you could tell how good someone’s immune system is from their skin tone.

 

New stats also revealed that:

  • Worryingly almost three quarter’s (73.9%) of those researched (out of 2,000 respondents) did not know that our immune system is capable of distinguishing foreign bacteria, fungi or viruses, thereby preventing cellular damage.
  • Nearly one third (30.9%), incorrectly believe that vitamin C will ward off a cold, with more women believing this than men (35.3% vs 26%).
  • When it comes to symptoms of a poorly functioning immune system, the most commonly cited symptom was tiredness (61.2%). Over one third of people (38%) commented that they thought their immune system was lowered when they felt physically weak, or when they caught a cold (37.9%) or a virus (37.1%).

Potter’s Herbals Elixir of Echinacea Plus – contains a unique formula of the highest quality Echinacea angustifolia, wild indigo and fumitory. RRP £10.16, available in Boots nationwide. Potter’s Herbal remedies also include cold and flu relief products, as well as sleep aids, and stress releif aids. The whole range are licensed herbal medicines – celebrating 200 years this year.

World class immunologist and medical herbalist Dr Serene Foster says “It is encouraging to see effective herbals available over the counter. The cold and Flu season costs the nation a lot in terms of lost days at school, work, and while on holiday. Now we can all benefit from good mixtures which address all aspects of colds. When Potters Herbal Elixir of Echinacea Plus is taken at the first sign of a cold, it will support and balance your immune system to reduce the symptoms and shorten the time you suffer a cold and make you feel better faster.”

 

Late For Work? No Worries

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Wave goodbye to the nine-to-five worker

Being late is fine with the boss, thanks to smart technology

 

The majority of global bosses are happy for staff to turn up late for work, according to new research by the world’s most trusted online back-up service, Mozy®.  Mobile technology, including smartphone apps and cloud services, now means that bosses are surprisingly supportive of a flexible workforce – more than most employees realise.

 

The findings, which can be read in full at www.mozy.co.uk/9-5, emerged in a study of 1,000 British, German, French, US and Irish employees and employers, which found 73 per cent of bosses have a relaxed attitude to time keeping, as they trust their staff are working long before they actually get to the office.

 

Yet this will come as a shock to most workers as half of employees are under the impression that their bosses definitely will mind if they are late.

 

“This is brilliant news for workers everywhere,” comments Claire Galbois-Alcaix of online back-up specialist www.mozy.co.uk , which conducted the study. “Hard work isn’t going unnoticed and mobile working and technology is having more of an impact on employer attitudes than people think.”

 

Time-keeping

The average global boss would be willing to turn a blind eye to employees being up to 32 minutes late and let staff spend a quarter of the week working from home. However, British bosses are the strictest, wanting late-running workers at their desks no later than 24 minutes into the working day, whilst US employers take the most relaxed view, tolerating their staff turning up to 37 minutes late in the day.

 

Mobile tools

The death knell of the nine-to-five worker has been rung by mobile technology, with three quarters of employers giving employees tools to get their jobs done wherever they are.  However, just 11 per cent of British employers tool their workers up to be able to access everything on the move – which would allow people even more freedom.

 

Email in bed

The study confirms the long-held suspicion that the urge to check emails first thing in the morning is overwhelming for some: a third of all British employees has logged in by 6.30am, compared with just 13 per cent of French employees. On average, by 7.00am one in five employees worldwide has already checked their email.

 

Give and take

Whilst the majority of employers globally are happy for staff to start their days later, in return they’re looking for flexibility from their employees and when they wind down for the night.  The fluid approach to working hours means that many employers are now comfortable with calling after hours, with 80 per cent saying they think it’s acceptable to call staff in the evening.  The research shows that French bosses are the most considerate and stop calling the earliest; 43 per cent draw the line at calling after 7.00pm. 16 per cent of UK employers, on the other hand, think it is acceptable to call workers between 10.00pm and midnight!

 

The real nine-to-five

Global employers demonstrate further evidence that behaviours have changed beyond recognition by underestimating the amount of work that employers are doing away from their desks.  As a whole, they believe their employees spend an average of 55 minutes a day working away from the office, when in fact, the average global employee has already clocked up 46 minutes before they even arrive at the office.

 

What does the new nine-to-five look like? The global results show that the average person starts checking their work email at 7.42am, gets into the office at 8.18am, leaves the office at 5.48pm and stops working fully at 7.19pm, meaning employees are “in work mode” for nearly 12 hours a day.

 

“We can see from the research findings that we’ve come a long way towards work being ‘a thing that you do’, rather than ‘a place that you go’ but, with just 11 per cent of British employers saying their employees can access all of their work tools remotely, there’s still a long way to go”, continues  Claire Galbois-Alcaix from Mozy.  “Using internet-based solutions that allow workers to access their data as if they were in the office, wherever they are and whenever they want, will help everyone to continue seeing benefits.”

 

Taking a relaxed attitude

Bosses are taking a laid-back approach to more than just punctuality, as personal tasks creep into the office day. Across the surveyed nations, 37 per cent of global bosses are happy for employees to take longer lunches. Meanwhile, more than a third of British employers are OK with staff downing tools to enjoy office banter and regular tea breaks.

 

One in eight of global employers polled even claim they are fine with employees carrying out personal tasks like online banking, food shopping and paying bills while at their desks – with the American bosses being most relaxed (22 per cent) and the British being the most stringent.

 

Over half of British employees think nothing of leaving work early for a doctor’s appointment, with one in five leaving early to watch a child’s school performance, and around one in ten using Facebook or Twitter whilst at work.

 

Top personal tasks creeping onto the office to-do list

1.       Leaving work early for the doctor or dentist

2.       Personal phone calls

3.       Regular tea and coffee breaks

4.       Chatting to colleagues

5.       Sending personal emails

6.       Taking a long lunch to get a few things done

7.       Online banking

8.       Leaving work early for a child’s performance at school

9.       Paying a few bills

10.   Having breakfast at work

11.   Reading newspapers and magazines

12.   Using Facebook and Twitter

13.   Calling customer complaints

14.   Researching things to buy online

15.   Brushing teeth

16.   Researching holidays

17.   Online shopping

18.   Showering after cycling / running /gym

19.   Looking up recipes for dinner

20.   Playing the lottery

21.   Online food shop

22.   Reading gossip online

 

Fox Survey: Do Brits Love Foxes?

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Earlier this month Channel 4 launched Foxes Live: Wild in the City, an interactive natural history event which put the power into the hands of the viewers. Anyone who owned a smart phone was a potential wildlife photographer and was able to contribute to new natural history research by taking part in the largest ever urban fox survey.

Before the survey, no-one really knew how many urban foxes lived in the UK and what the general public really thought of them. With the last study on urban foxes carried out over 30 years ago, Channel 4 is now able to share brand new wildlife research and information.

Thousands of people took part in the survey sharing their thoughts and opinions on foxes and whether they believed urban foxes lived up to their cunning reputation.

Over 11,500 people completed the survey with a massive 89% of people living in urban areas saying they liked foxes and were in favour of them living in their cities. People who weren’t so keen on foxes were those who encounter them more frequently.

Females liked foxes more than males and those aged 18 and younger preferred them to people aged 18 and above (18-50 age group). Residents in Northern Ireland were the biggest fox lovers (92% liked foxes) and foxes were least liked in London (19% disliked foxes).

On the web site there were 17,532 fox sightings logged in total in the UK. Southern England had the highest frequency of sightings. Over 75% of people in London claimed to see a fox once a week or more.

When it comes to how foxes interact with other animals, 8% of people think that foxes might regularly attack pets but only 5% of people actually reported fox attacks on pets. And foxes may be the surprise victims: people reported they were three times more likely to see foxes being chased, attacked and even killed by pets than the other way round.

Eight out of 10 people agreed that seeing foxes enriched their lives and 36% of people living in urban areas admitting to feeding foxes in their gardens. Less than 1 out of 10 people said foxes should be removed from cities.

Foxes Live: Wild in The City was backed by The RSPCA and featured experts including Dawn Scott, Head of Biology and Biomedical Sciences Division at The University of Brighton. Dawn, who also analysed the online survey results, said ‘This information will provide us with a better understanding of the national distribution of urban foxes and enable us to produce new population estimates. It has also helped us to understand people’s perceptions of both the benefits and issues of living with urban foxes.’