Hong Kong has ranked bottom in a survey on people's "well-being" in six regions, scoring only 59.9 points out of 100.

The mainland came first in the list compiled by US health-insurance firm Cigna, scoring 66.1, followed by Thailand, the UK, South Korea and New Zealand.

The poll showed that the SAR's score was largely dragged down by complaints of people in their 40s, who said they were under the "unbearable pressure" of family and work, while a big part of their income goes to mortgage payments on homes they could ill afford.

The middle-age blues afflicting many Hong Kong people have been aggravated by the need to care for their elderly parents. "After the 'Unhappy 40s', Hong Kong experiences a 'Golden 50s' when overall perceptions dramatically improve. But, there's a dip again among the 60s age group," said Austin Marsh, chief executive officer and country manager of Cigna Hong Kong.

More than 60 percent of respondents in Hong Kong said their feeling of well-being was affected by a lack of sleep. The stress is shared by many others in other Asian regions, with three out of every four families struggling to cope financially. Only 24 percent believed they were financially secure. Financial and work worries were cited as the main causes of inadequate rest.

Only 32 percent of respondents in Hong Kong rated their overall personal perceptions of health and well-being as being either "excellent" or "good", compared with more than 40 percent of those polled on the mainland.

The survey seemed to suggest that sleepless Hong Kong citizens believe they are physically and financially stressed, Marsh said.

"However, when we look deeper into the findings, we found that Hong Kong people, in reality, are doing far better physically and financially than they believe they are," he added.

Hong Kong, however, fared quite well concerning three other major health factors - weight, eating habits and alcohol consumption.

selena@chinadailyhk.com

(HK Edition 01/14/2015 page9)