Filipinos have worst health habits in Asia, says study

MANILA, Philippines—Filipinos have among the worst health habits in Asia, according to a new research from Sun Life Financial Asia covering eight major markets in Asia Pacific.

The study showed that about half of Filipinos sleep less than six hours a day – the highest in the region – with 45 percent admitting to unhealthy eating habits, also the highest in the region.

Over 60 percent of Filipinos also said they have not been exercising regularly, exceeding the regional average of 56 percent, and almost at the same level as Hong Kong, Thailand and Malaysia.

The Sun Life Financial Asia Health Index, a regional report that covered the Philippines, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore and Thailand, likewise showed that Filipinos had the highest levels of family history of chronic illness (19 percent versus the average of 13 percent).

They also scored highest in terms of largely preventable health conditions experienced by family members, such as diabetes (47 percent versus the region’s average of 32 percent) and heart disease (43 percent compared to 23 percent for the region).

But Filipinos also showed the highest motivation to attain and maintain a healthy lifestyle with a score of 86.8 on the Asia Health Index, which measures attitudes, perceptions and behavior relating to health, lifestyle, priorities, healthcare access and personal finances, outpacing the region’s average of 80.1.

Sun Life Financial Philippines President Riza Mantaring said in a briefing on Thursday there has been a “disconnect” between what Filipinos wanted to do about their health – like exercise more and eat a more balanced diet – and what they have actually been doing.

“While people want to make changes in areas of their lives that are largely within their control, such as exercise, nutrition and stress management – that desire hasn’t yet been successfully translated into action that leads to sustained behavior change,” Mantaring said.

Perhaps one reason behind the wide gap between knowledge and action is that Filipinos are the most positive about their physical health (77 percent versus 62 percent for the region) and mental health (81 percent versus 64 percent).

They also outperformed the region when it came to relationship with family, level of happiness and level of energy.

Hong Kong and Singapore, on the other hand, were the least positive about their physical, mental and emotion health.

Singaporeans and Hong Kong citizens were also the most dissatisfied about their level of energy, according to the inaugural study of Sun Life.

The Sun Life Asia Health Index was based on the findings of a survey conducted between Aug. 21 and Sept. 11, 2014 among 5,000 middle-income Asians from the Philippines, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, China, Singapore and Thailand, aged 25 and 55.

The sample population was questioned on their attitudes toward healthy and active living, health concerns for the future and expectations on access to vital healthcare.

Mantaring said the survey findings for the region revealed the emergence of Asia’s so-called “Generation O” – a demographic that has been “overworked, overweight and generally overwhelmed.”

Filipinos said their main barriers to living a healthy and active lifestyle were lack of health-related activities that interested them, and dearth of good sports and recreational facilities.

For the region, the main reasons cited for failure to lead a healthier lifestyle were lack of time due to work, lack of motivation and distractions, such as watching TV and surfing the Internet.

Being overweight and obese was also cited as the main personal health issue hounding Asians. Obesity levels in the Philippines, however, are still below the region’s average, and well behind the numbers in Thailand, Malaysia and Hong Kong.

The Sun Life Asia study also indicated that while Filipinos were the most optimistic in the region, they were also the most concerned about the cost of health care upon their retirement, followed by Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.

This is why Sun Life in the Philippines plans to roll out a new line of products that will help cover health care costs.

At the same time, Mantaring said that the insurance company would invest in programs that would encourage Filipinos to turn their plans to lead a healthier lifestyle into action.

“As part of our call to the ‘Generation O’ of the Philippines to convert awareness to action through better, healthier choices, we at Sun Life continue to explore ways to raise awareness about wellness and health-enhancing behavior toward improved physical and financial well-being,” Mantaring said.

‘’It’s time to embrace opportunity and to work together toward better outcomes all around.”

Indian shoppers drop 'can't touch, won't buy' mantra

NEW DELHI -- Led by companies such as Flipkart and Amazon.com, e-commerce has begun to flourish in India as consumers outgrow a "can't touch, won't buy" approach that had subdued online growth.

     Bangalore-based Flipkart, the largest e-commerce company in India, boasts 22 million registered users and more than 4 million daily visits for products in 70 categories, including books, media and consumer electronics.

     Flipkart, founded by former Amazon employees Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal in 2007, announced in July that it had raised $1 billion in fresh capital, within months of becoming the first Indian e-commerce company to reach $1 billion in gross value added, a measure of sales success.

     Amazon, whose chief executive officer Jeff Bezos visited India last month, has announced plans to invest $2 billion in India. Other companies vying for a larger share in India's e-commerce business include eBay and Delhi-based Snapdeal and Jabong.

     Overall, the market is expected to be worth $56 billion a year in sales within a decade, from $16 billion in 2013, according to the Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India (Assocham).

     More immediately, the electronic retailers are fighting to cash in on the Oct. 23 Diwali festival -- the biggest in India. Massive discounts are available to tempt shoppers, many of whom regard the festival as an auspicious time to exchange gifts.

     Snapdeal has roped in a battery of Indian television stars to promote the brand and its Diwali Bumper Sale, while Amazon, which entered India last year, tried to woo consumers with its Diwali Dhamaka Week from Oct. 10 to Oct. 16. Dhamakais a Hindi word that means explosion.

     Flipkart held a Big Billion Day sale on Oct. 6 that offered steep discounts on a variety of products, including smartphones and electronic goods. The sale prompted visits from 1.5 million shoppers, but triggered a hue and cry from offline traders who complained that some of the deals were "unbelievable".

     "We targeted $100 million in [gross merchandise value] on the Big Billion Day. We achieved that target is just 10 hours!" Flipkart said, declaring that India was changing the way it shopped.

     However, many of Flipkart's customers complained of technical glitches and cancelled orders. Pushkar Sharma, 18, an engineering student in New Delhi, said the deals were irresistible, but unavailable, noting that many of the products had sold out within minutes.

     Flooded with such complaints, the Flipkart founders issued an apology to their customers, acknowledging that shoppers' experiences on the Big Billion Day were "less than pleasant" because "we didn't source enough products and deals in advance to cater to your requirements. To add to this, the load on our server led to intermittent outages."

     Praveen Khandelwal, national secretary-general of the Confederation of All India Traders, has demanded an investigation into the business models of online retailers, together with the formation of a regulatory authority to monitor e-commerce business. 

     "We want to make the government realize how serious the issue is. We will launch a nationwide campaign demanding rules and regulations for e-commerce business," Khandelwal told The Nikkei, adding that the industry body had already met with Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and conveyed its concerns to her.

     Sitharaman had already said that her ministry was looking into complaints about Flipkart's Big Billion Day event.

     Khandelwal accused online retailers of "unhealthy business practices and predatory pricing."  In the last six months, he said, "many segments of offline retail like cosmetics, mobile phones, computer hardware and software, footwear, electronics and kitchen appliances have suffered a loss of 20-35%, and we presume that by the end of the Diwali festival this loss will go up to 50%."

     However, Arvind Singhal, chairman and managing director of retail advisory firm Technopak, said electronic retailers accounted for only 0.4% of total merchandise retail spending in India.

     "It is a fact that e-commerce is a very promising channel. It is also true that one single category, which is mobile phones, is finding a lot of interest from consumers shopping online, but that doesn't mean that [the] rest of the spending is also moving online," he told The Nikkei.

     "As per my understanding, no law has been broken by any of the online portals in India by selling some goods at a discount."

     Assocham said the Flipkart Big Billion Day sale should not be used as "a ploy or an ammunition" to subject the fledgling e-commerce sector to regulations in excess of those applicable to offline businesses.

     Assocham said that while it was true that part of the existing market dominated by brick-and-mortar retailers would shift online, the Internet-based delivery platform had also created additional demand in areas such as books, music and premium goods such as sunglasses.

     "To assume that [online retailing] will spell doom for the organized retailing in the malls and traditional markets will be an incorrect assessment," Assocham Secretary-General D.S. Rawat said in a statement.

     In a joint study released in August, Assocham and comScore, an Internet information group, said online retailers had penetrated 65% of retail categories, and were receiving 53.4 million visitors a month, with overall visitor growth of 15% a year.

     The study said the Flipkart group of websites, including the company's recently acquired online fashion portal Myntra, were the most visited online retail sites, followed by Jabong and Amazon.

     Assocham had earlier said in a separate report that India's e-commerce market was worth about $2.5 billion in 2009, rising to $6.3 billion in 2011 and $16 billion in 2013. It was expected to reach $56 billion by 2023, which Assocham forecast would be 6.5% of the total retail market.

     Reeling under the impact of online shopping, Sunil Chawla, a book store owner in New Delhi, said online retailers had badly hit his business, forcing him to sell small gift articles alongside books.

     Mohd. Ashfaq, who works for a mobile store, said customers were asking why comparable phones were available at much cheaper prices online. Ashfaq said it was a hard task to convince them to buy offline.  

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