BRIC is an economic term, consisting of the capital letters of four countries: Brazil, Russia, India and China.
The term “BRIC” first appeared in a thesis written by Goldman Sachs
investment bank in 2003. According to the report, these four countries
will be so rapidly developing in economy that it is expected that by
2050 these countries would be leading the world.
Even though
BRIC is in similar stages of economic growth, they differ in various
aspects. We will explore these countries as well as Japan from
perspectives of health concern, lifestyle, and eating habits in the
next three I-News newsletters.
In this volume, we reveal the life environment and health concerns of these countries.
Question 1: Do you have any children? How many family members live with you?
NUMBER OF CHILDREN
NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN THE HOME
For the number of children:
1.) 56% of Chinese respondents have only one child as a result of the government policy and only 4% of them have two or more children, contrasting that over 20% of respondents in other countries have more than two children.
For the number of people living together:
2.) Indians are living in a relatively bigger family since they tend to live with their relatives.
Question 2: Which of the following do you live in?
1.) About an equal percentage of Japanese respondents live in homes vs apartments.
2.) In Russia and China, it is very noticeable that over 80% of them live in apartments; less than 7% of them live in homes.
Question 3: Can you access the Internet from home? If so, which of the following do you use at home?
INTERNET IN THE HOME
TYPE OF INTERNET ACCESS
* The result for Japan is reference only since sample size is less than 30.
1.) Among these 5 countries, Internet penetration rate is the lowest in India;Only 64.5% of them have Internet connection at home. In contrast, Japan has the highest penetration rate of 92.9%, followed by China of 88.2%.
2.) The most common means to access the internet is ADSL in all countries.
3.) Many people (about 20%) in India and Russia still use dial-up access.
Question 4: Do you have any health worries? (Multiple Choice)
1.) The biggest concern among Chinese respondents is about dry eyes; approximately 40% of people said they are worried.
2.) The three major health concerns of Japanese are poor physical strength, obesity, and stiff shoulders.
3.) Interestingly, over 45% of people in India say they do have no worries about their health.
Question 5: Which do you do for health? (Multiple Choice)
1.) In general, “Exercise” and “Choose healthy foods” are the popular choices to stay healthy in all countries. 70% of Chinese respondents say they get exercise for their health.
2.) Among respondents in China and India, more than half of them choose safe foods. In
contrast, only 16% of Japanese respondents say they choose safe foods for their
health.
3.) It is remarkable that 58% of Indian respondents say they use a water purifier to stay
healthy.
Question 6: Do you smoke? Do you drink alcoholic beverages?
PERCENTAGE OF SMOKERS
PERCENTAGE OF DRINKERS
1.) The percentage of smokers is the lowest in India (13.5%) and the highest in Russia (36.7%).
2.) Russians drink the most among these five countries, followed by the Japanese and Chinese. On the contrary, only 23% of Indian respondents say they drink—mainly due to religious reasons.