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Following is a question by the Hon Frederick Fung and a written reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (November 26):
Question:
A recent study by the Chinese University of Hong Kong has revealed that the problem of childhood obesity in Hong Kong is getting worse, and it has projected that by 2013, every one of four teenagers aged between 6 and 18 would be obese. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it has assessed the efficacy of the measures to encourage children to develop the habits of healthy eating and frequent exercising starting from childhood; if it has, of the assessment results, if not, the reasons for that;
(b) as it is learnt that in view of an increasing number of children suffering from obesity, the Government intends to introduce healthy eating campaigns at the pre-school stage, which are currently implemented in secondary and primary schools, of the details of its thinking, including how the educational institutions concerned should complement;
(c) whether it will consider checking the body mass index for school children on a regular basis and recommend that secondary and primary schools should increase the number of sessions and extend the duration of physical education lessons; and
(d) whether it will implement more effective measures to stop the problem of childhood obesity, including restricting the broadcast of television advertisements of foods that are high in fat, sugar or salt (generally referred to as "junk food") during children's programmes or family viewing time and regulating the contents of such advertisements, so as to reduce children's access to information about such foods, as well as banning the sale of junk food in schools; if it will, of the implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
According to statistics provided by the Student Health Service of the Department of Health (DH), the obesity rate among primary school students rose from 16.4% in 1997-98 to 21.3% in 2007-08. To promote healthy eating habit, DH has all along committed to raising public awareness of the importance of healthy eating through various large-scale campaigns such as "EatSmart@school.hk" and "EatSmart@restaurant.hk". It has also launched a "Strategic Framework for Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases" to promote public health and healthy living. My reply to the four parts of the question is as follows -
(a) DH launched the "EatSmart@school.hk" in the 2006-07 academic year to raise public awareness and concern about healthy eating among children, and create an environment that is conducive to healthy eating in schools and the community. In the 2007-08 academic year, a total of 482 primary schools have participated in the Campaign, accounting for 77% of the total number of primary schools in Hong Kong. The dedicated website for the Campaign records a total of over 35 million hits.
According to the assessment of food consumption patterns of primary students conducted by DH in early 2008, more than half of the responding students and parents were aware of the Campaign, 73% of the responding students supported the promotion of healthy eating; over 60% of the parents supported the introduction of measures in schools to increase the proportion of healthy lunch and snacks; and more than 70% of the respondents had knowledge about the principles of healthy eating. In addition, the percentage of students and parents who paid more attention to the nutritional value of food when making food choices had significantly increased over that in 2006, and the eating behaviour of school children had also improved. DH will continue to keep in view the changes of school children's eating habits and the trend of childhood obesity rate, and conduct relevant research to review and improve the strategies and measures for promoting healthy eating.
To help school children develop a healthy and active lifestyle and foster their physical and aesthetic development, the Education Bureau (EDB) has recommended that no less than 5% of the lesson time be allocated for physical education in all primary and secondary schools. It has also provided support to schools for developing sports activities through provision of grants for acquiring sports equipment and hiring coaches; collaboration with other government departments and organisations to encourage schools to use public sports facilities free of charge or at concessionary rates and give them priority in using such facilities; and organising large-scale sports development programmes, such as the "School Physical Fitness Award Schemes", "School Dance Festival", "Outdoor Education Camps", "Jump Rope for Heart" and inter-school sports competitions.
On the other hand, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) has organised the "School Sports Programme" in collaboration with EDB since 2001 to provide information and training on sports to children and youngsters studying at primary, secondary and special schools. In the 2007-08 academic years, over 1,000 schools and 540,000 students participated in the programme. At the same time, the number of participants for various sports programmes organised by EDB, LCSD and other organisations amounted to over 1.1 million in the 2007-08 academic year. Findings of the health fitness (Note 1) survey on school children conducted regularly by EDB also indicate that the levels of physical fitness of school children remain largely stable.
(b) To improve the population's health profile and reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCD) (including overweight and physical inactivity), DH launched the "Strategic Framework for Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases" in end October 2008 to call for concerted efforts in the control and prevention of NCD. In October, we also set up the Steering Committee on Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases, comprising representatives from the Government, public and private sectors, academia, professional bodies, relevant industries and other key partners, to deliberate on and oversee the implementation of the overall strategy. The Steering Committee will form a working group to study matters related to healthy eating and physical activity. One of its main duties is to consider conducting studies on childhood obesity so as to collect more scientific data for following up cases of childhood obesity.
As for the introduction of the element of healthy eating to pre-school education, DH will work with relevant stakeholders to review the needs of the education sector, students and parents before developing the appropriate measures, such as guidelines, publicity, education, trainings etc.
(c) DH operates 12 student health service centres and three special assessment centres, which provide free health assessment (including regular measurement and monitoring of the height and weight of students), health education and individual health counselling services for primary and secondary students. The main emphasis is on health promotion and disease prevention. Besides, schools measure the height and weight of their students every year.
Regarding the lesson time, according to EDB and as mentioned in part (a) of this reply, our students already have many opportunities to participate in sports activities. As such, the Curriculum Development Council has no plan to amend the recommendation of allocating not less than 5% of the lesson time for physical education at the moment.
(d) Realising the influence of the mass media on children, DH has been disseminating information on healthy lifestyle through the mass media and different channels to the public. To tackle childhood obesity, DH will continue with its publicity and educational efforts and strive to build a favourable environment to encourage children to make healthy food choices and do more exercises. As regards the proposal to regulate food advertisements, DH has to gather relevant information, draw on the practical experiences of other places, and listen to the opinions of experts and the public.
Note 1: "Health fitness" refers to one's ability to adapt to the environment for maintaining a healthy and quality life. It consists of the components of cardio respiratory endurance, muscular strength, muscular endurance, body composition and flexibility.
Ends/Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Issued at HKT 12:10
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