Bangalore: Theirs may be the country's most happening city, but when it comes to a healthy lifestyle Bangaloreans may not be doing too well, if you go by their "HQ."

Bangaloreans have scored a worrying 58 on a scale of 100 on Tata AIG's, health quotient (HQ). The number, its officials say, is way below the healthy "pink" value of 80.

Random survey

As many as 7,000 Bangaloreans have been randomly surveyed at hotspots — malls, supermarkets and commercial centres that reflect lifestyles in the city. The HQ measures disorders linked to stressful and hectic urban living and is calculated on the basis of 25 questions devised in consultation with the Indian Medical Association, Mumbai, according to Sujata Dutta, Vice-President - Accident & Health, Tata AIG Life Insurance Co. Ltd., and Neetasha Joshi, VP & Zone Business Head, South.

Unsatisfactory rating

"Bangalore barely makes it to the score of 58, thus placing Bangaloreans in the unsatisfactory rating.

There is need for tremendous improvement in health as Bangaloreans may be prone to several health risks," the officials said at a press conference here on Thursday.

TV viewing

On the plus side, Bangaloreans are relatively good, if you go by their fewer hours of TV-watching, lower frequency of medication, eating more fruits and vegetables, relatively low alcohol consumption. But on the flipside they go for fewer medical check-ups, prefer sedentary lifestyle and gorge on junk food.

Globally, Indians figured low with regard to number of medical insurance policies, while the incidence of cancer, respiratory disorders and Parkinson's disease were rising, Ms. Dutta said.

The first non-clinical attempt to fix a health benchmark was meant to nudge people into taking stock of the way they were living, the ailments they might be prone to and the changes they needed to take to stay healthy, said Bimal Balasingham, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the company. The survey began a couple of weeks back and Silicon City was the first to be sampled.

It will include Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Bhubaneswar, cities in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and the metros soon.

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