Thursday, 9 January 2014 00:00
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Sri Lankan adults worry about their health and the two most dreaded illnesses are heart disease and diabetes.
According to statistics that emerged from Sri Lanka in a survey in the Asian region conducted by the life insurance giant AIA Group, 54% claimed they are concerned about getting heart disease while for 46%, diabetes was the dreaded illness. Surprisingly, cancer came third, with 34% claiming concern.
The Healthy Living Index Survey was conducted to understand how mass population across Asia Pacific feels about their health, their concerns and hopes for a healthier way of life. For the first time, Sri Lanka was included in the survey conducted across 15 out of the group’s 17 markets.
The survey showed that healthy living is important and that most adults believe there’s significant room for improvement in terms of satisfaction with their own health. In the survey 48% of Sri Lankans expressed that they followed a lifestyle that promoted good health such as regular exercise, eating a balanced diet and having regular medical checkups.
Demonstrating that Sri Lanka was a more health conscious nation in the region, the survey revealed that 85% of Sri Lankans gave greater importance to a clean environment while 74% felt food safety was important. These percentages were higher for Sri Lanka than for the rest of region.
Eating healthier food was important for 83% while another top driver for healthy living among Sri Lankans was a good family relationship. The fifth top driver was good work life balance with 71% rating this high.
Surprisingly only 24% in Sri Lanka considered taking a holiday good for health while taking regular medical check-ups also scored a low 28% among Sri Lankans. In contrast other Asian nations scored a 60% for regular medical check-up and a high 54% for taking holidays as contributors to healthy living.
The research findings will play an important part in maintaining a healthy lifestyle in the region as AIA focuses on uplifting the health of people in the region as the group’s CSR stance.
“Motivating people to spend more time and energy to maintain a healthy lifestyle would undoubtedly uplift the standard of health in the region,” observed the AIA Insurance in Sri Lanka Chief Executive Officer Shah Rouf.
“Good health is the most important ingredient in leading a contented and happy life which is what we promote for everyone. As an insurer we believe that understanding the mindset of our customers in our markets will help us to serve them better which is one reason why AIA has invested in this important endeavour,” he added.
