The Philippines again topped an insurer’s annual health index survey in Asia for 2015, indicating that Filipinos have the highest awareness of the importance of good health in achieving their goals for financial freedom.
However, despite having the highest awareness among Asian markets surveyed by Sun Life Financial, Filipinos are among the lowest in doing something to improve their health and prepare for a life-threatening medical crisis.
In the Sun Life Asia Health Index 2015 survey among nine Asian markets, Filipinos scored a high health index of 92.2, up from its previous health index of 86.8 in 2014, which was at that time also the highest health index among the nine Asian countries surveyed. The average health index figure for the region is only 84.9.
The health index is the average of the following four variables: the importance placed on healthy and active living by the middle class; their motivation to attain and maintain a healthy lifestyle; their belief that improved health levels can come from healthier choices; and their perception of the likely impact on personal finance of a major health event.
“What we are seeing is both a clear increase in the importance of health to people in the Philippines, an even greater state of readiness—in terms of attitude—for self-management in maximizing personal health, compared to last year’s baseline,” said Sun Life Financial Philippines President and Chief Executive Officer Riza Mantaring.
“What hasn’t shifted, however, is the disconnect between the awareness that better lifestyle choices translate to improved personal health, and the action taken as a result of those choices,” she added.
According to the survey, 97 percent of Filipinos say they know how they can improve their health further; 93 percent say they do everything they can to maximize their health; and 96 percent say they support and encourage their family to live a healthy lifestyle. Yet, being overweight or obese and respiratory conditions are among the top 3 health issues that Filipino respondents said they have personally experienced, providing still further evidence of the gap between awareness of the importance of good health and action to achieve it.
Sun Life Financial Philippines Chief Marketing Officer Mylene Lopa explained the big gap between health awareness and action among Filipinos could be due to the high percentage of the population belonging to the so-called Generation O, or those who are “overworked, overweight and overwhelmed.”
In the Philippines 30 percent of the respondents were classified as among the Generation O, while an additional 13 percent were classified as “distracted,” or those who feel unhealthy and are aware of the importance of good health but lack motivation or are easily distracted from pursuing the goal to be healthy. Another 3 percent were classified as “hedonists,” bringing the total percentage of those living an unhealthy lifestyle to 46 percent.
Only 16 percent of the respondents are considered as “health-blessed,” or those who are healthy without needing to make any effort; 15 percent were classified as “health starters” or those starting to live a healthy lifestyle; and 23 percent are “wellness wonders” or those who make an effort to be healthy and do multiple things, like dieting and exercising, to stay healthy. This puts the total percentage of the respondents living a healthy lifestyle to 54 percent.
The second Sun Life Asia Health Index is based on the findings of an Ipsos survey conducted between July 14 and August 3, 2015, among 4,429 Asians from 25 to 60 years of age in nine markets in Asia, namely, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.