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Elaine Yau

HONG KONG students have improved  their eating habits and  are consuming less junk food, a survey reveals.

From the academic year 04/05 to 06/07, the  Chinese University of Hong Kong's Centre for Health Education and Health Promotion conducted a survey on  local students' food intake.

For two years, the centre  monitored the lunchtime eating habits of 547 Primary Four and Six students from 10 schools.

Lunch boxes provided by the schools' food suppliers were checked for  contents.

It was found out that  lunches consumed by students in year 06/07 contained more healthy ingredients than in the previous year.

The survey registered a 23.6 per cent increase in the amount of vegetables served  compared to the previous year's figure.

To get a clearer picture of students' eating habits, 2,954 students and 2,337 parents were also interviewed  as part of the study.

As school-based programmes to promote healthy living went into full swing, students have  been paying more attention to what they eat.

An 8.2 per cent decrease was recorded in the consumption of sugary drinks. The  consumption of instant noodles was also down by 3.7 per cent.

Although both parents and students  recognise the importance of eating healthily, over half of the respondents said it is not easy to maintain healthy eating habits in the city.

'Poor taste of healthy food', 'insufficient healthy food choices', 'insufficient time to prepare healthy food' and 'frequent dining outside homes' were cited as the main  obstacles preventing a continuous healthy eating regimen in the city.

Albert Lee, the director of the centre, said  parents and schools are responsible for doing more to ensure  future generations  grow up physically healthy.

'The food choices of parents directly affect the health of their offspring,' said Professor Lee.

'If they  know about the effects of different diets on children, and are determined to reform the way they eat, the younger generation  will definitely have  stronger  bodies.

'We should also actively promote healthy food at schools. The message of keeping a balanced diet will then spread from families and schools to the community as a whole.'



Healthy eating