Australians are not as healthy as their Asian counterparts, a new report by AIA has found.

The life insurer has conducted a healthy living survey across the 15 Asian and Oceanic markets it operates in and has scored Australians 59 out of a possible 100 – below the regional average of 61.

The index was constructed from research into respondents’ eating and drinking, amount of sleep, frequency of exercise and medical check-ups. Their level of satisfaction on 12 key drivers of healthy living was then added to the score.

The results were weighted towards the four behavioural trends and these contributed two-thirds of the index figure, with the remaining third based on respondents’ satisfaction with health.

AIA says adults in Australia accept they need to do more to achieve a healthy life and are not satisfied with their health.

But they’re not alone, with adults in Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea and New Zealand expressing similar views.

This contrasts with adults in Indonesia, India and the Philippines, who are satisfied with their health despite admitting to a range of unhealthy habits.

In Australia and New Zealand, more than 90% of adults are concerned about obesity in young people. And 78% of Australians want to lose some weight themselves, compared to 72% of New Zealanders.

But this desire is not being met with action, as 46% of adults say they don’t exercise regularly, citing as the main reason tiredness (59%) and being time-poor (53%).

Eating healthy food would help counter obesity, but AIA says 34% of respondents said expense is the reason for not choosing this type of food.

Another 39% say preparing healthy food is too hard, but more than half of Australians are consciously drinking more water and eating more vegetables and fruits. 

While these are steps in the right direction, AIA Australia Chief Medical Officer Pramodh Nathaniel says obesity as a health threat looks likely to continue if more action is not taken.