Most Hong Kong students are couch potatoes

The figures are astounding: 17.5 percent of our children are obese or overweight with most students (94 per cent) not getting enough exercise, according to a report released by the Department of Health (DH) last week.

The report is a warning. If we do not look after the wellbeing of our children, they will grow up with deficiencies which will hamper their progression throughout their career.

The DH is to be applauded for the thoroughness of its report. During the 2024/25 school year, it assessed 256,000 primary school students and 172,000 secondary school students as to their life styles. The result is that they are lazy when it comes to physical activity. Some, 93.6 per cent of students (91.5 per cent of primary and 95.8 per cent of secondary school students) reported insufficient levels of daily physical activity, i.e. not having at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity daily.

This has consequences, says Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, consultant in community medicine at the DH. Being overweight during childhood and adolescence adversely affects health, she says, and is associated with a greater risk and earlier onset of various non-communicable diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and certain cancers. Childhood and adolescent obesity can also have adverse psychosocial consequences, affecting students' school performance and quality of life.

Genetics, metabolism, sleep patterns and exposure to stress of adverse childhood events can also contribute to weight gain.

But overall Hong Kong is not doing too badly. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the world average for obese children is 19.8 per cent of school children aged 5-19 globally in 2025. This figure represents more than 391 million children affected by obesity with significant variation by region and country. For example, 33 million in China are estimated to be obese, while 14 million in India and 13 million in the United States are living with obesity. The WHO says that the prevalence of obesity has been increasing with a notable rise in high-income countries and regions.

The Government has been doing its bit. The Financial Secretary, Paul Chan Mo-po recently proposed a $1.2 billion package for the promotion of sport, which would be available through the numerous sports associations in Hong Kong. If schools are smart, they could align themselves to any of these associations for the benefit of their students.

And then the government launched the inaugural Action Plan on Weight Management earlier this month, to bring together the strengths of various government bureaux and departments to enhance collaboration between Chinese and Western medicine. The purpose is to comprehensively promote weight management across Hong Kong through various activities and approaches.

More than 75 per cent of Hong Kong schools have joined these initiatives, which includes recommendations for exercise, diet and balanced screen time.

However, the fight against obesity in our youth also rests with parents and schools.

For a healthy body, sport and diet go hand in glove. In Hong Kong, despite the many sporting activities available their dietary habits are below the optimal dietary levels with about 90 per cent consuming fewer than the recommended servings of fruits and vegetables.

Another factor causing obesity is the extensive recreational use of electronic devices (smart phones, iPads, tablets and computers), which contribute to sedentary behaviour with a high proportion of Hong Kong students exceeding two hours daily, clicking their thumbs playing games on their smart phones. If a student’s legs can move as quickly as their thumbs, they will lead a healthy life and become pillars of society.

School and home environments, neighbor safety and social norms affect food access and activity levels.

At home, it is the responsibility of parents to provide a well-balanced diet for their children and refrain from fatty foods, deep fried foods and fast foods, which despite claims by the providers do not provide the necessary nutritional value required for a healthy body.

Schools are key settings for obesity prevention because children spend considerable time there, making it possible to shape lifelong dietary and physical habits.

Under the guideline provided by the Education Department, schools provide nutritious meals, promote fruit and vegetable consumption and limit unhealthy foods.

In Hong Kong schools either have their own kitchens to offer healthy lunches or they contract the service to outside catering firms. Either way they are carefully monitored to ensure they take out “strongly discouraged food items” from all menu choices and stop the supply of snacks and drinks categorised as “snacks to choose less” to reduce the intake of fat, salt and sugar by students.

Childhood obesity in schools is a multifaceted public health issue requiring a holistic approach. Schools can play a pivotal role by providing healthy meals, promoting physical activity, raising awareness and integrating preventive strategies into daily routines. Coordinated action involving students, parents, teachers, healthcare professionals and policymakers is essential to curb obesity.

Mark Pinkstone

** 博客文章文責自負,不代表本公司立場 **

As towers of glass, steel and concrete start forming the skyline of the Northern Metropolis, a swath of green the length of the development is being maintained to protect the wildlife inhabiting the area for more than a century.

The Northern Metropolis (NM) development is a futuristic university city, occupying one third of Hong Kong’s land mass along Shenzhen River boundary with the mainland. Catering for a new population of 2.5 million and offering 65, 000 jobs with additional transport links, the project is expected to reach it potential in 2036.

In addition to the residential development, the plan includes an extension of the existing logistics hub in the Hung Shui Kiu and Ha Tsuen areas. And two eco-tourism nodes will be established in the coastal areas of Tsim Bei Tsui and Pak Nai, featuring resorts, weekend markets, and camping sites. Authorities have expressed their intention to create a coastal protection park along the 10.7-km coastline.

However, it is being built on what was previously fish farms, agricultural land, marshes and mangroves – wetlands, a natural habitat for wildlife and an important foraging ground and habitat for migratory water birds.

The plan was launched as a proactive conservation policy in the Chief Executive’s annual policy address in 2021 and has gone through various consultation exercises involving surveyors, conservationists, property holders and the public.

The wetland conservation system is estimated to have a total area of about 2 000 hectares (ha). This includes the existing Hong Kong Wetland Park (HKWP) at Tin Shiu Wai (about 62 ha) plus an expansion of about 240 ha, the Mai Po Nature Reserve (about 370 ha), the proposed establishment of three Wetland Conservation Parks (WCPs) at Nam Sang Wai (about 400 ha), Sam Po Shue (about 520 ha) and Hoo Hok Wai (about 300 ha), as well as the establishment of Sha Ling/Nam Hang Nature Park (about 4 ha) and Tsim Bei Tsui/Lau Fau Shan/Pak Nai Coastal Protection Park (about 145 ha).

Indigenous to Hong Kong and southern China is the Eurasian Otter which has been documented in parts of the territory for more than a century with the earliest sighting records dating back to the 1890s. Today, the species is considered locally rare with a restricted distribution, occurring primarily around Mai Po Inner Deep Bay Ramsar Site, with occasional sightings in Lok Ma Chau, Hoo Hok Wai, and Hong Kong Wetland Park. (A Ramsar site is a wetland designated as being of international importance under the Ramsar Convention, a global treaty signed in 1971 in Ramsar, Iran, to protect and sustainably use wetlands).

Otters in Hong Kong. (Source: South China Morning Post)

Access control measures are in place in areas with otter occurrence, such as Mai Po Nature Reserve, the non-visitation area of the Wetland Reserve at HKWP and ecological mitigation wetlands created under development projects, to protect the sensitive habitats and minimize potential disturbance to the wetlands and their associated animals. Separately, under the planned Sam Po Shue Wetland Conservation Park (SPS WCP), enhanced freshwater wetland habitats and ecological passage will be established to allow wildlife, particularly the otters, to travel between the SPS WCP and adjacent wetlands. Additionally, the river channels within the SPS WCP will be enhanced to provide habitats for the otters, with the incorporation of habitat enhancement features such as otter platforms, artificial holts (otter burrows) etc. at appropriate locations in the park.

Reports from the Adelaide Zoo in Australia indicate that otters are not shy (unless threatened) and in fact become more playful in the presence of humans.

Lau Fau Shan oysters were once favored in Hong Kong until the mid-70s when they were subjected to contamination from heavy metals fed into the Shenzhen River further upstream from battery making factories. The loss-making industry is now virtually dead save for about 10 per cent of its former glory being maintained by villagers with purified water systems.

Conservation groups believe the introduction of eco-tourism in the area would help the villagers bring survival back to the industry.

Now, under the NM development plan, a dedicated Coastal Protection Park (CPP) is being established along the Deep Bay coastline, covering Tsim Bei Tsui, Lau Fau Shan, and Pak Nai.
The CPP, spanning about 10 km and covering about 145 ha, aims to protect critical habitats for horseshoe crabs, mangroves, and seagrass beds.

Conservation groups, including The Nature Conservancy, are also actively advocating for Pak Nai, near Lau Fa Shan, to be designated as a formal Marine Protected Area (MPA) to safeguard its status as a biodiversity hotspot.

The government is to be applauded for taking the initiative of blending the eco system in an intense high-rise technical urban sprawl. The government has launched public engagement exercises and invited Expressions of Interest (EOI) for eco-tourism nodes in these areas. The goal is to transform conservation value into economic vitality through guided tours and educational facilities without compromising ecological integrity.