Q Do you think Hongkongers have an unhealthy lifestyle?
I think Hongkongers have an unhealthy lifestyle because of the sedentary nature of most of our jobs and our eating-out culture.
However, to label 40 per cent of Hongkongers overweight is ridiculous. One only has to walk the streets to realise this statistic is completely wrong.
But let's look at the actual numbers used, which do not match the body mass index (BMI) used by the US Centres for Disease Control (CDC). According to the CDC, a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 is considered normal. This means only 21 per cent of Hongkongers are overweight or obese, not 40 per cent as reported.
Yet the government health office is using a BMI of only 18.5 to 22.9 for normal. The US CDC considers a BMI over 29.9 obese, but the department uses over 25.
Clearly, there has either been a major error or a deliberate attempt to sensationalise this survey. Was it funded by the slimming product industry?