Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ17: Childhood obesity
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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