Aucklanders among most stressed Kiwis

Auckland is unhealthy although few are losing sleep over the Rugby World Cup. Photo / Richard Robinson

We're overworked, we don't eat our greens, and some of us are drinking, well, plenty, a new survey shows.

Conducted in March for Southern Cross Healthcare Group, the national online survey found that more than half of the 1000 adult respondents were working for "more" or "significantly more" time than they would like.

In Auckland and Wellington, this was even higher at 60 per cent, suggesting the work-life balance was out of kilter. Tauranga and Dunedin were more relaxed, 38 and 43 per cent respectively feeling overworked.

Stress levels were correspondingly high in Auckland, with 32 per cent saying they felt stressed, the second-highest figure behind post-earthquake Christchurch on 46 per cent.

The health outlook for Aucklanders may not be so good when diet is added to the picture. Nationally, 20 per cent said they ate five or more servings of fruit and vegetables a day, but at 16 per cent Aucklanders were worst at meeting this minimum recommendation.

And Aucklanders' takeaway habits were questionable, with 34 per cent eating eating two or more a week compared with 29 per cent nationally.

Working it off with exercise is unpopular for nearly half the population - 44 per cent nationally and 43 per cent in Auckland exercise either not at all or at most just once a week.

In Auckland, 68 per cent were "slightly above" or "well above" their ideal weight. Nationally the figure was 69 per cent, exceeding the Ministry of Health tally of 63 per cent of the population either overweight or obese.

On the positive side, Aucklanders smoke a lot less than the rest of the country - 14 per cent are smokers, compared with 19 per cent nationally.

And although heavier alcohol intakes remain at significant levels nationally, with 18 per cent drinking more than 10 standard drinks a week (including 7 per cent who drink 20 or more), the Auckland figure is 13 per cent. Health authorities recommend a limit for "responsible" drinking of 21 a week for men and 14 for women.

The National Heart Foundation's medical director, Professor Norman Sharpe, said of the low fruit and vegetable intake: "On average, we are far from ideal. The difficulty with those data is they will vary greatly by socio-economic group. Some of those [people] fall short because of the cost of fruit and vegetables."

Smoking and obesity were much higher in the poorest areas than in the wealthiest, he said.

Half the survey's respondents said they did not get enough sleep. A third said they slept for up to six hours a night, 28 per cent for seven hours, 29 per cent for eight and 9 per cent for nine or more hours.

But it seems few were losing any sleep over the All Blacks' biggest challenge this year - just 9 per cent said they were worried about whether they would win the Rugby World Cup.