PolyU shares advice on health care
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University's (PolyU) Faculty of Health and Social Science held its first Health Professions and Education Roving Exhibition from March 31 to April 3 at St Stephen's Girls' College.
PolyU wanted secondary school students to learn more about the faculty. The event also gave PolyU students an opportunity to apply what they have learned by doing simple body and eye checks on the younger students. Lecturers were on hand to give talks on nutrition, first aid, sports injuries and eye care.
'This exhibition gives me the chance to communicate with young people. Although they are just a few years younger than me, I can see a big difference in our mindsets,' said Tsang Ting-fung, a Year Three nursing student who helped at the health assessment booth.
The PolyU students performed a basic health check on the St Stephen's girls, including calculating their body mass index, measuring their peak expiratory flow rate and blood pressure and conducting a simple eye examination.
'Some of the girls are reluctant to stand on the scale and think they are overweight. But in fact they are slightly underweight in terms of their BMI,' Mr Tsang said.
Fong Ka-yee, another Year Three nursing student, said: 'They are more aware of their body image than we were at their age.'
The St Stephen's girls were keen on health assessment. During the four-day exhibition, there were long queues in front of the booth during recess, lunch hour and after school.
Pauline Cho, associate professor from the School of Optometry, talked to the girls about eye care. 'Eye problems are common among teenagers, as many use the computer for a long period of time and wear contact lenses improperly,' said Mrs Cho. She said contact lenses problems included wearing them for too many hours, wearing coloured lenses without consulting an optometrist and swapping lenses with friends.
'I hope they will come to realise the importance of regular eye exams,' she said.
There are health monitors in each class at St Stephen's. The post was set up after Sars struck the city to help promote health care at school. One monitor, Carmen Chan Kwan-mien, said the four-day exhibition was useful. It raised awareness among her classmates and made her job easier.
The faculty is planning to do 10 similar exhibitions in local schools this year.
For more information about the exhibition, contact Carolyn Wong at 3400 3973.
