More than 1,600 children from Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and India, all of whom lost a home or relative in the disaster, were quizzed by UNICEF about their feelings on the catastrophe and their future.

"Among the four countries, Indonesia was the hardest hit by the tsunami and appears to be recovering more slowly," the survey report said.

"The children surveyed in Indonesia expressed a degree of pessimism in the shape of boredom, indifference, loneliness and sadness...They have the least optimistic view of the future and the highest proportion of children who feel their lives are worse now than immediately after the tsunami."

Some 168,000 Indonesians were killed out of an estimated 220,000 who died around Indian Ocean countries when the tsuanmi hit last December 26. Children were among those worst affected, with many orphaned and others suffering trauma that persists one year on.

One third of children surveyed in Indonesia believed that their lives would not improve, while in the other three countries 80 percent of children were positive about the future.

In India, Sri Lanka and Thailand, children said that during free time they feel cheerful and content, but in Indonesia, feelings of loneliness and boredom occurred more often.

Nearly a quarter of Indonesian children also said they often felt hungry and 19 percent said they were not eating as regularly since the tsunami.

UNICEF said that "the situation in Indonesia is the most challenging, with one quarter saying that their lives are worse now compared to one to five days after the disaster."

In all countries, the trauma still manifests itself in a fear of beach-related activities for one third to one half of the affected children, the survey found.

Virtually all children felt that additional aid was needed, most often support to stay in school, although more than nine out of 10 said they were back in classrooms.

The survey was commissioned to better understand how surviving the tragedy had affected children and to improve programs that meet the needs of the tsunami generation, UNICEF said in a statement.

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