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Some 240 community members and partners from non-governmental organisations (NGOs) today (March 13) received special thanks from the Department of Health (DH) at a recognition ceremony for their roles in promoting and facilitating the Hong Kong community to eat healthily.
Addressing the ceremony, the Controller of DH's Centre for Health Protection, Dr Thomas Tsang, said non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are posting a major threat to public health. In Hong Kong, two in every five adults are overweight or obese, and more than one quarter of adults are suffering from high blood pressure. He also said that younger people are increasingly affected, that NCDs are closely related to lifestyle and can be prevented by healthy eating.
"The Department of Health is committed to advocating a healthy lifestyle and promoting healthy eating and physical activity at all levels of the community," Dr Tsang said.
The EatSmart Customer Community Programme was launched in 2009 by DH and the Hong Kong College of Cardiology (HKCC) in collaboration with NGOs, with the aim of empowering members of the public with the knowledge of healthy eating. This is the third year of the Programme, which has been renamed the "EatSmart Community Programme" (ECP) to enhance awareness of healthier eating in the community, both in home cooking and when eating out.
This year's programme was supported by 42 NGOs, and with the help of their combined efforts about 600 community members have enrolled. Participants are encouraged to design an EatSmart Menu consisting of three healthy dishes to bring home the knowledge and effects of healthy eating. During the ceremony, prizes were presented to 15 ECP participants with outstanding menus.
Health promotion and disease prevention can only be achieved by community wide participation. The DH will continue to use a cross-sectoral partnership approach to promulgate the message of healthy eating in the community.
Other officiating guests at today's ceremony included the President of the HKCC, Dr Chris Wong; President of the Hong Kong Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades, Mr Simon Wong; and representative of the Hong Kong Nutrition Association Ms Angela Chan.
Ends/Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Issued at HKT 16:31
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