ASCI JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT 33(1&2), 56-62

Copyright 2004 Administrative Staff College of India.

P.H. RAO1

________

Indicators of
Executive Health in India
______________________________________________________________________

This paper presents the results of an executive health survey conducted by the author among participants attending
management development programs at the Administrative Staff College of India during 2001-02. The study finds that over
two-third of the respondents have one or more health problems. Lifestyle as well as organizational factors contribute to
executive health problems. All levels in the organizational hierarchy have health related problems.
______________________________________________________________________

Good health is good business because human resources happen to be a vital organizational asset. The quality of
human resource is a key driver of organizational development and progress. Healthy employees are not only more
productive, but employee health has also implications on other factors. Healthy employees save money for
organizations by way of lower absenteeism and minimal medical bills.
The demands on todays executive due to increasing competition, cost controls, quality consciousness, and
accountability are enormous. These ever-increasing demands bring about a host of lifestyle changes and increase
stress. The net result is that the health of the executive suffers, which, in turn, adversely affects the organizations
performance. However, the data on executive health and its wide-ranging implications on organizational
performance is rather scarce and fragmented in India. It is for this reason that surveys on executive health need to
be conducted regularly.
A survey on executive health was conducted on a representative sample of 275 participants who came from all
over the country to attend over 150 management development programs for senior and middle level executives
from industry and government as well as non-government organizations at the Administrative Staff College of
India in 2001-2002. The objectives of the study were to identify and assess the impact of critical factors that have
a bearing on executive health. These include:
Lifestyles and habits
Stress levels
Common health problems
Preventive measures adopted, and
Facilities at the workplace.

Respondent Profile
90 percent of the sample respondents were male. 55.5 percent were postgraduates and about 10 percent held
doctoral degrees. The age-wise distribution of the sample is as follows: up to 30 years (8.2 percent), 3140 years
(31.2 percent), 4150 years (37.5 percent), and 51 years and above (23.1 percent).
56 percent of the participants represented the government segment (central and state governments, public sector
undertakings, joint sector organizations, etc.); about 35 percent from private sector and the rest from other
segments. 83 percent had more than 10 years of work experience. 53 percent were at senior levels of
organizational hierarchies, 38.6 percent at the middle level and the remaining 8.4 percent at the junior level.

**

Dr. P.H. Rao is Senior Member of Faculty, Health & Social Care Area, Administrative Staff College of India, Hyderabad (phrao@asci.org.in)

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Lifestyle and Habits

Data on lifestyle collected in the study covered: hours of sitting at job during the working day, outstation travel,
business lunches, consumption of tobacco and alcohol, food habits and modes of relaxation. The following
responses are significant:
About 44 percent of the respondents sit for seven or more hours during a working day.
About 78 per cent undertake outstation travel.
About 75 per cent go out for business lunches.
About 27 per cent smoke. Almost half of them smoke one packet or more of cigarettes per day.
47.6 percent consume alcohol in one form or the other. Among them, about 69 per cent take hard drinks like whiskey
and rum and the rest beer or wine. About 51 per cent who consume hard drinks do so once or twice a week.
About 70 per cent eat non-vegetarian food.
About 89 per cent spend some time for relaxation. The common modes of relaxation are watching TV followed by
reading newspapers/magazines, listening to music and meditation. Relatively fewer mentioned outdoor activities like
playing games, walking and going to places on vacation.

Levels of Stress
Based on responses, the stress profile of the sample represented on a five-point scale is as follows: very high (1.3
percent), high (6.0%), moderate (44.8 percent), somewhat (36.3 percent) and not at all (11.6 percent).
Comparatively higher proportion of males, those in the age group 55 and above, and working in central
government or public sector undertakings rated their stress level as high or very high. The level of stress increases
as the executives level in the hierarchy goes up. The proportion of smokers is comparatively higher among
executives with very high/high stress levels (16.7 percent) to moderate level stress (16.3 percent) than those with
somewhat or not at all (11.1 percent).
Health Problems
About 68 percent of the respondents mentioned that they have one or more health problems bothering them for
more than the past three months. Among them, 56 percent reported two or three health problems. The top ten
health problems afflicting Indian executives are as follows (Table-1):
Table-1

Ten major executive health problems

Rank

Health problem
High blood pressure/
Hypertension
Acidity and other gastric
problems
Backache
Excess weight /Obesity

Faced
by

Rank

Health problem

Faced
by

23.0%

Body aches/pain

8.0%

22.5%

Blood sugar/Diabetes

8.0%

14.4%
13.9%

8
9

Knee/ joint pain

Neck pain/Spondilitis
Throat/Nasal
5
Headache/Migraine
9.1%
10
prob-lems/Sinusitis
Note: Based on the number of people with at least one health problem.

5.3%
4.8%

1
2
3
4

4.8%

The chronic nature (more than three months) of health problems is an indirect indication of the expenditure on
treatment. In case of about two-thirds of the respondents, the health problems are more than two years old. The
difference in the occurrence of the top ten diseases among males and females is only marginal. Age-group wise
analysis of top six diseases reveals an alarming rate of 32 per cent with backache and 27 percent with high blood

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pressure among executives below 30 years. Almost one-quarter people in the age group 31-35 have high blood
pressure and acidity.
Hierarchy Level Wise Differences
High blood pressure is prevalent at all levels, the proportion being the highest (23.8 percent) at the junior level. At
the middle level, acidity has the highest proportion. The details are as follows (Table-2):
Table-2

Hierarchical level and health problems

Disease
Backache
Obesity
High blood pressure
Acidity
Migraine
Diabetes

Junior
19.0%
0.0%
23.8%
19.0%
4.8%
0.0%

Hierarchical level
Middle
13.5%
12.5%
12.5%
16.7%
7.3%
2.1%

Senior
3.8%
7.6%
17.4%
9.8%
5.3%
2.3%

Lifestyle and health problems

People eating non-vegetarian food have higher incidence of acidity/gastric problems (15.5 percent) compared with
others (10.9 percent). About 27 percent of those who reported obesity also had high blood pressure or
hypertension. Significant indicators of stress and health problems are as follows:

Prevalence of acidity at 15.3 percent is higher among somewhat/not at all stress level respondent groups when
compared with the overall rate of 12.5 percent.
Prevalence of obesity among very high/high stress level respondent groups is almost double (16.7 percent) against an
overall rate of 8.4 percent.
Prevalence of blood pressure is comparatively similar among all stress level respondent groups (a little over 15
percent).
Prevalence of diabetes is comparatively higher among those with moderate stress level of 8.2 percent when compared
with an overall rate of 5.5 percent.
Prevalence of backache is comparatively similar among all stress level respondents (8 percent).

Preventive Measures
Information on health check up, exercise habits, practice of yoga and meditation was collected under preventive
measures. About 64 percent of the respondents reported that they had a health check up done during the last two
years. Among them, about 62 percent reported that their employer arranged for the health check up. There is no
gender related difference in the proportion of persons undergoing health check up.
An age group wise analysis indicated that comparatively lower proportion of the respondents among younger and
older groups underwent health check up. A comparatively higher proportion of respondents working in central
government organizations and private organizations (73 percent) underwent health check up than those working in
other types of organizations (3350 percent).
Only about half of the respondents mentioned that they exercise regularly. The duration of exercise ranges from 15
90 minutes. Among those who exercise, about 40 per cent spend 1530 minutes and about 33 per cent spend 30
60 minutes. The morning walk (53 percent) is the most popular form of exercise followed by yoga (15 percent),
weights (11 percent) and back bending (10 percent). An equal proportion (about 50 per cent) of both male and
female respondents exercised. Comparatively, people below 40 years exercise less (3545 percent) than those
above 40 years (5157 percent). Only 23 percent mentioned that they practice yoga and/or meditation.

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Facilities for exercise, yoga and mediation at the workplace are available to about 520 percent of the respondents.
Such facilities are comparatively more available to those working in non-government organizations. A higher
proportion of respondents have facilities for exercise (17.1 percent) at the workplace compared to yoga and
meditation (8.8 percent).
Conclusions
The survey on executive health conducted on a representative sample of 275 participants attending various courses
at the Administrative Staff College of India during 2001-02 points to the fact that that executive health ought to be
a major area of organizational concern if it is already not one. Over two-third of the respondents admitted that they
have one or more health problems that have been bothering them for more than three months. Among them, over
half of them reported two or three health problems. As such, two-third of the respondents had a health check up
done in the last two years.
Hypertension, gastric problems, backache and obesity are the major areas of concern. Those at senior and junior
levels in the organizational hierarchy appear to be more hypertensive than those at the middle level but that is not
consolation enough. Junior and middle level executives suffer more from gastric and postural (backache)
problems than their seniors. Obesity is dominant in the middle management level.
Lifestyle contributes in no mean measure to executive health problems. Over two-third of the respondents take
non-vegetarian food, go out for business lunches and undertake outstation travel; a little less than half sit for seven
or more hours during a working day and consume alcohol in one form or the other; over one-fourth smoke. Only
half of the respondents said that they exercise regularly. Of this, over one-third spend between 15-30 minutes and
one-third 30-60 minutes on exercise. The stress profile of the sample is not alarming but stress does contribute to
health problems. Stress levels increase as the levels of the hierarchy are scaled.
It does appear that organizational concern for executive health is on the increase. A majority of respondents who
had a health check up done in, had this check up funded by their respective organizations. There are indications of
organizationally provided facilities for exercise, yoga and mediation at the workplace gradually emerging. If
workspaces are ergonomically designed, then posture related problems seen in back, neck, knee and other
problems like headache/sinusitis can be minimized. Likewise, office canteens, where employees have one or two
meals a day, could serve healthy, nutritious and easily digestible food and to an extent gastric problems and
obesity can be controlled.
Studies of executive health in Indian organizations are few in India. There is no doubt that such studies must
increase. Even the few studies that are presently available do point to the fact that employee health is a critical
determinant in organizational competitiveness and success. Greater insights are possible when executive health is
correlated with other organizational factors.
_______________________________________________________________

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Rao Indicators of executive health in India

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