Executives getting health conscious, says Businessworld-NFO survey

According to a survey jointly conducted by Businessworld magazine and market research outfit NFO-MBL India, corporate executives are becoming more health conscious even as stress and work pressures are increasing. Key findings will be published in the September 30 issue of Businessworld (‘The Art Of Feeling Better').

The survey was conducted in the six metros of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai and Pune. The sample was randomly chosen from professional companies like Kotak Mahindra, Discovery Communications, Coca-Cola India and Dabur. The executives were in the age group of 30-50 years across various levels - junior, middle and senior management.

Commenting on the findings, Gautam Nath, director, corporate services, NFO-MBL India says, "Seventy seven per cent of the respondents feel that work pressure has increased and a significant (67 per cent) keep long working hours - which is more a large-metro phenomenon." Interestingly, a majority of the corporate executives (82 per cent) attribute unhealthy lifestyle and stress at the workplace to health disorders like diabetes and heart ailments. Nearly 30 per cent of the executives complain they frequently suffer from health problems.

The good news is, a fair number of Indian executives, close to 80 per cent, feel they are more health conscious today. And they are looking after their well being in various ways. While 68 per cent feel eating healthy food is a good way to keep up their health, 73 per cent do it through exercise. For another 40 per cent, playing sports is important to good health. And some maintain their health by consuming dietary/nutrition supplements (32 per cent), trying alternative preventive therapies (25 per cent) and going to the gym (18 per cent).

These findings could be of interest to healthcare companies. Executives are willing to spend 7-10 per cent of their annual income on health-related expenses. So work hard and look-after-yourself seems the motto of the day. © 2002 agencyfaqs!