Microsoft word - healthy living index-e.doc

American International Assurance
Company, Limited
AIA Tower, 181 Surawongse Road Bangkok 10500, Thailand Media Release
Healthy Living Index Score for Thai Adults below Regional Average of 15 Markets
AIA’s Healthy Living Index Survey Shows Despite Awareness of Need to Have Healthier Habits, Not Many Thai Adults Have Turned Such Awareness into Action
Bangkok, 1 November 2011: In its landmark Healthy Living Index study, AIA Group surveyed the
healthy living habits of people in 15 markets across Asia Pacific (including 816 Thai adults) to better understand their hopes and concerns about health, health-related issues and what they see as key drivers of healthy living. While most Thai adults (98%) are aware of the importance of healthy living and the things they can do to lead a healthier life, not many turn such awareness into action. Thai adults seem less satisfied with their health (average 6.7 rating out of 10 compared to the regional average of 7.0) and 63% of Thai adults also feel their health is not as good as it was 5 years ago, even among the younger less than 30 years old. Commenting on the survey, Mark Tucker, Group Chief Executive & President of AIA said “As both an employer of more than 20,000 people across the region and as Asia’s leading insurer, helping people lead healthier lives is a natural concern to us. The results from the first AIA Healthy Living Index not only confirmed the importance of Healthy Living to people from all walks of life and all ages, but also provided valuable insight into the attitudes and behaviours of adults toward their own health." Mr. Ron van Oijen, AIA Thailand’s Chief Executive Officer said “As Thailand’s leading life insurer, AIA would like to understand Thai people’s key concerns and attitudes toward healthy living which will help us address our customers’ concerns and help them meet their protection needs through various life-stages. Also, AIA will use the findings of this survey to help our employees, agents and the wider community led healthier lives. This is not a one-off initiative; we see it as an on-going endeavour. No doubt the current flooding situation meant less sleep and less resources to think about eating healthier foods but I am confident this is a crisis that all of us in Thailand will overcome together.” Healthy Living Index Score for Thai Adults below Regional Average of 15 Markets The survey was conducted among 10,200 males and females aged 18-65 years old from various income and education groups in 15 markets where AIA operations: Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Korea, the Philippines, Australia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Vietnam, New Zealand, Brunei, India and Thailand. The survey was conducted by TNS, a global consumer research company, Thai adults not getting enough exercise or sleep, both of which are important drivers of
healthy living
Top health concerns among Thai adults are not enough exercise (39%) and insufficient sleep (34%). 71% of Thais admit they do not exercise regularly which is much higher than the regional average of 49%. In term of frequency, 46% of Thais say they exercise only one hour less per week which is higher proportion than the regional average of 42%. Moreover, Thai adults are not getting sufficient sleep. Thai people’s desired sleeping hours is 8.1 while the actual sleeping hours is 6.3 which means sleep deficit of 1.8 hours, a higher deficit than regional average of 1.3 hours of sleep. Weight a significant concern, even for younger ages
92% of Thai adults express concern about obesity among the younger generation and 68% of Thai adults (including those younger than 30 years old) want to lose some weight themselves which is much higher than the regional average of 54%. Only 5 other markets have more adults who want to lose weight: Australia (78%), Taiwan (77%), Korea (75%), New Zealand (72%) and Hong Kong (70%). Not exercise as much as they should is probably a contributor to weight concerns among Thai Thai adults not getting regular medical check-up as often as they should
Despite almost all Thai adults agree it is important to have periodic health check, only 54% had a medical check-up in past 12 months. However, majority of Thai adults (81%) say they would have health checks more often if these were not so expensive. Healthy eating habit still at basic stage
Thai adults know they should adopt healthier eating habits, but such habits still revolve around the basics of drinking more water (80%), eating more vegetables and fruits (73%). For healthy eating, less than half of Thai adults say they try to reduce alcohol consumption (45%), eat less sweets/snacks (41%), reduce caffeine consumption (32%), less salt (24%) and less processed foods Healthy Living Index Score for Thai Adults below Regional Average of 15 Markets The Healthy Living Index Report card is generally not good for the various markets across the region, but specially so for Thailand whose Healthy Living Index score of 57 puts it at the low end of the Added Mr. Tucker “Despite universal awareness of the importance of Healthy Living and the things they can do to lead a healthier life, many adults across the region have not turned such awareness into action. Interestingly, many adults across the region believe employers should do more to help them lead healthier lives. At AIA, we intend use the insights from the survey as a catalyst to see what else we can do to mobilise our employees, our agents and indeed the rest of the community to help themselves and others around them lead healthier lives.”

Source: http://www.aia.co.th/en/resources/85d98d004a6f20dd8b068fc94f5f7968/AIA_HealthyLivingIndex-en_th.pdf