Japan named 'healthiest' nation as new research discusses 'what is healthy'

Japan has been revealed as the 'healthiest' nation – at least that's what people think, according to a new report.

A new survey of 8,000 respondents from Australia, Brazil, Germany, New Zealand, South Korea, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States, found the Asian nation was considered the healthiest out of all 195 countries by 15 per cent of people.

Followed by Switzerland (12 per cent), Sweden (12 per cent), Norway (10 per cent) and New Zealand (9 per cent).

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What is healthy?

The survey, Commissioned by Noom and conducted by OnePoll, focused on uncovering how the general populations from each of these nations address their physical and mental health concerns.

It found that for many, being "healthy" takes on different forms – and not all of the respondents defined health in purely physical terms.

Across the globe, most respondents defined "healthy" as being physically fit (31 per cent), exercising regularly (31 per cent), being emotionally happy (30 per cent) and getting adequate sleep on a regular basis (30 per cent).

In Australia, respondents demonstrated awareness of the connection between health and diet, reporting their top definition of health was eating plenty of fruits and vegetables (36 per cent).

Across the globe, in South Korea, health was all about being stress-free (48 per cent). In New Zealand, it was critical to get adequate sleep (34 per cent) and in the U.S. their definition of health is exercising regularly (32 per cent).

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How healthy do we feel?

The survey also revealed the biggest issues impacting both physical and mental wellness on an international scale, providing even more support and evidence of why health solutions must address the two in tandem.

Nearly four out of five (78 per cent) of overall respondents said they currently feel healthy.

Specifically, out of the eight countries surveyed, respondents from Spain (91 per cent), Brazil (86 per cent) and America (86 per cent) claimed they currently felt healthy – more than the other nations surveyed (76 per cent in the United Kingdom, 74 per cent in New Zealand, 74 per cent in Australia and 73 per cent in South Korea).

Meanwhile, respondents from Germany reported feeling the most unhealthy out of the eight nations, with 33 per cent categorising themselves as currently being "very unhealthy."

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Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020, 53 per cent claimed they take their health more seriously. Similarly, 21 per cent said they have felt more productive throughout their average days since the pandemic began.

"It is encouraging to see people across the globe thinking about health in multifaceted, holistic ways, and embracing the mind-body connection," said Saeju Jeong, co-founder and CEO of Noom.

"This realistic approach signals that our society is shifting toward more sustainable health practices, a philosophy that we have believed in since our beginning. We hope to see more digital health organisations promote holistic solutions as it's clear our industry has a continued opportunity to lead dialogues about what true health looks like and how to maintain it for the long-term."

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What is Australia doing

Since the pandemic began, 53 per cent of Aussies have picked up good habits in some capacity. The tools that most helped them stick with their habits were having support from family and friends (34 per cent) and working from home (16 per cent).

More than two in five have developed at least three or more new habits since the onset of COVID-19 that have now become a part of their daily routine.

But for many, adopting healthy habits is still a challenge. In fact, many shared what they would rather do than make the healthy changes needed to lose weight. Specifically, they'd rather give up their favourite streaming apps for a year (20 per cent), two weeks of vacation (20 per cent), sex for a year (20 per cent) and social media for a year (18 per cent).