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Following is a question by the Hon Fred Li and an oral reply by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (March 8):
Question:
According to a household health survey jointly conducted by the Department of Health (DH) and the Department of Community Medicine of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong, some underweight people are still trying to reduce their body weight. Another survey has also revealed that among 40% of the respondents who are secondary students, many have tried to reduce their body weight by methods detrimental to health, resulting in eating disorders in some cases. In addition, a survey conducted by the Consumer Council (CC) has revealed that most of the body-slimming advertisements contain exaggerated and misrepresented information. However, as the Beauty Industry Code of Practice drawn up by CC has no legal effect and is intended only for voluntary compliance by the industry, it can hardly serve to protect the public. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
(a) DH plans to follow up the findings of the above household health survey; if so, of the main target groups and the estimated amount of expenditure to be incurred; if not, the reasons for that;
(b) DH and other relevant government departments will take measures to strengthen their efforts in preventing and treating eating disorders; and
(c) it plans to respond to the findings of the CC's survey by tightening the regulation of body-slimming advertisements, including requiring all claims made in such advertisements to be supported by substantiated evidence?
Reply:
Madam President,
I understand the general public's desire for good health and note that there is a prevalent trend of body slimming in our society. It is only natural for people to strive for a healthy body and appropriate body weight. However, the desire for further weight reduction from those who are already underweight reflects that they may not have a proper concept about body weight. In the following, I will answer the Hon Fred Li's question from the health perspective.
(a) DH has been making great efforts in promoting public health. It has been disseminating the message of "having balanced diets and regular exercises to help control weight" through various channels and cooperation with different organisations and members of the community. The purpose is to instill the use of appropriate means to control body weight in the public. A correct attitude towards proper body weight can be most effectively cultivated from childhood. DH has therefore been working vigorously to promote a correct conception towards healthy diet and body weight among secondary and primary school students through its Student Health Service Centres and the Adolescent Health Programme.
In addition, the Education and Manpower Bureau has also encouraged schools to enhance students' awareness of healthy lifestyle and wholesome eating habits through various aspects, such as school curriculum, learning activities and co-curricular activities.
The promotion of a correct conception towards body weight and diet needs to be carried out on an on-going basis. As revealed by the findings of the Population Health Survey, further efforts need to be made to enhance the general public's understanding towards proper body weight and assist them to achieve it. In view of the findings of the survey, DH will sustain and strengthen the above-mentioned efforts. The promotion of healthy eating habits among school children is one of the initiatives featured in the Policy Address announced in last October to tie in with this objective. DH has set up a cross-sectoral and inter-departmental group to map out the details of the action plans for various programmes, which are expected to commence in the 2006-07 school year.
(b) According to research findings, eating disorders are a complex group of psychiatric conditions with multiple and often unknown aetiology. In many cases, eating disorders are due to emotional and mental problems caused by interpersonal and family problems, or pressure from peers and schoolwork. From the perspective of health promotion, the Administration aims to foster and reinforce among the public a correct attitude towards healthy diet, regular exercises and body shape. The Administration provides the general public with accurate information about eating disorders so as to enable the public to have a better understanding of eating disorders, their causes, symptoms, treatment and prevention.
The Hospital Authority (HA) provides specialist treatment to people suffering from eating disorders. The respective specialties will, if necessary, refer the relevant cases to the Psychiatry Specialty for follow-up action. HA will continue to closely monitor the demand for such treatment and will arrange for redeployment of resources to meet the needs of patients if necessary.
(c) The survey conducted by the Consumer Council touched upon a wide range of issues, including whether body-slimming service would affect people's health, whether the claims made in the body-slimming advertisements were substantiated or exaggerated, the practice in the sale and marketing of slimming products, etc. The concern of the Health, Welfare and Food Bureau (HWFB) is on whether these products will have an adverse effect on public health. I understand that at present there is not a set of comprehensive legislation to regulate all kinds of advertisements and their content. Yet individual regulations and codes of practice are in place to govern product advertisements or the claims made in certain advertisements. The following are some major examples:
* The Association of Accredited Advertising Agents of Hong Kong (HK4As) has formulated a set of Code of Practice to regulate the advertisements produced by its members. The Code of Practice requires that "advertisements must be legal, decent, honest and truthful" and specifies that "no description, claims and illustrations in any advertisements should directly or implicitly mislead consumers about the products or services under promotion". Any member who fails to comply with the Code of Practice will be subject to sanctions according to the relevant rules laid down by HK4As.
* The Broadcasting Authority has, pursuant to the Broadcasting Authority Ordinance and the Broadcasting Ordinance, issued a "Generic Code of Practice on Television Advertising Standards" and a "Radio Code of Practice on Advertising Standards" to regulate the advertisements aired by licensed television and radio stations.
The two Codes have set out strict requirements on the truthfulness of the television and radio advertisements. These requirements include:
* No television and radio advertisements may contain claims which depart from truth;
* All factual claims contained in the advertisements should be capable of substantiation; and
* No advertisement may misleadingly claim or imply that the product or service advertised has
some special features which are incapable of being established.
For advertisements on products, services and institutions purporting to provide ways of achieving the objectives of body weight or fat reduction, there are additional requirements in the above codes of practice on television and radio advertisements whereby these advertisements are required to indicate that the advertised products or services must be used in conjunction with a balanced diet/healthy eating habits in order to achieve the purported objectives. Licensees of television and radio stations are required to obtain concrete evidence which shows that the advertised products or services should produce some efficacy and free of any harm. Moreover, the advertisements should not target at people under 18 years of age.
I believe that the relevant organisations will continue to closely monitor whether advertisements in Hong Kong (including body-slimming advertisements) are in compliance with the requirements of the aforesaid codes of practice. Members of the public may also reflect their concerns about the content of advertisements to the relevant organisations.
Ends/Wednesday, March 8, 2006
Issued at HKT 12:41
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