Kiwi kids need to kick screens to the curb and exercise more

Kiwi kids need to kick screens to the curb and exercise more
New healthy living statistics released by AIA New Zealand

Half of Kiwi parents believe their children aren’t getting enough exercise, with the amount of time spent on screens the main culprit to blame, according to AIA New Zealand’s Healthy Living Report released today.

The AIA Healthy Living Index, commissioned by AIA Group, interviewed more than 10,000 people across the 15 markets in which AIA operates.

AIA New Zealand Head of Marketing and Communications, David Savidan, says the survey, which follows benchmark studies in 2011 and 2013, aims to understand how Kiwis feel about their health, their concerns and hopes for a healthier way of life, and how this has changed over the years.

“New Zealand’s Healthy Living Index Score for adults currently sits at 63 out of a possible 100 points. In comparison to the previous survey results (58 in 2011 and 61 and 2013). New Zealand parents’ satisfaction with their children’s health sits higher at 76%. But there is still room for improvement.”

Parents believe the main reason their children are not getting enough exercise is because they’re spending too much time on screens – on the internet (50%), watching TV (25%) and playing video games (21%). Homework is not a common reason, with just 10% of parents providing this reason.

Similarly, half of parents in New Zealand feel their children are sleep deprived for similar reasons, including spending too much time online (51%), playing video games (22%) and watching TV (20%). “Taking all of this on-board, we can see why one in five (22%) of New Zealand parents would like their child to lose weight,” Savidan says.

Healthy eating habits are still limited to the basics of drinking more water and eating more fruit and vegetables, but New Zealanders are not necessarily practicing this advice, with 84% of Kiwis tending to eat while distracted and 79% having unhealthy snacks in between main meals.

“We’d like to encourage Kiwi adults and kids to take action by making adjustments to their daily lives, like reducing screen time, to improve their general health and wellness. Healthy eating and exercising regularly are essential to a healthy lifestyle,” says Savidan.

AIA has compiled a list of suggestions to get children exercising:

• Sign your child up to a sports team or club – many of these are offered through school.

• Go for a family walk to the park or around the neighbourhood.

• Try and get out and about on the weekends, exploring the beach, bush walks etc.

• Lead by example – children are more likely to join in if they see their parents exercising.

• Make it fun but also introduce elements of competition – encourage them to complete a number of steps, jumps, skips each day, and beat previous records.

AIA’s philosophy is to contribute to the wellbeing of people in every community. AIA New Zealand has created an AIA Championship football competition which sees 5-aside football teams compete against their Asia-Pacific counterparts – the AIA New Zealand team recently won the final in London against AIA Indonesia. AIA is also the exclusive insurance sponsor for the Hawkes Bay and Queenstown Marathons, with the latter happening in November this year.

Other key findings from the AIA Healthy Living Index:

• Kiwis rate themselves only 6.3 out of 10 on their overall satisfaction with health and 63% feel their health is not as good as five years ago. They recognise that healthy living is multi-faceted, including both physical elements (49%) as well as mental aspects.

• New Zealanders have widespread concerns about various health conditions, with the main concerns being heart-related illness (67%), cancer (63%), being overweight/obesity (59%), and having a stroke (57%).

• Adults in NZ can be motivated to exercise and eat healthier by a range of reasons – tangible effects such as feeling better physically (84%) and mentally (81%), looking better (79%), and better posture (72%) as well as smaller and more achievable goals (69%) which will help them change one step at a time (70%).

• Many adults in NZ view organic foods (90%) and healthy foods (78%) as generally more expensive, more so than the regional averages (81%, 72%). More than half see organic foods as being better for one’s health (57%), but at a much lower level than the regional average (77%), possibly reflecting fewer concerns about the quality of their foods in NZ.

• Two-thirds (66%) of New Zealanders have a medical check each year (52% regionally).

ENDS

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