Quiz
Two Saturdays ago, a group of third-year medical students from the University of Hong Kong faculty of medicine organised a signature campaign aimed at banning television adverts for junk food during children's programmes.
Along with garnering support in the Mong Kok pedestrian area, the students also handed out 150 mandarins and information cards on the impact of a bad diet on children. They will submit the collected signatures to the Legislative Council.
A recent study published in the Journal of Pediatrics found a clear link between fast-food adverts and children's food choices.
Researchers at Texas A&M International University studied 75 children aged between three and five years. All watched two cartoons separated by adverts; half saw an advert for French fries, and the others saw one for apple slices. They were then asked to choose a coupon for either one of the foods. Seventy-one per cent of those who viewed the French fries advert picked the coupon for French fries, compared with 46 per cent of those who viewed the advert for apple slices.
So how well do you know junk food? Quiz yourself here.
1. Nutritionists recommend that foods containing fat and sugar make up what proportion of a balanced diet?
a. 10 per cent
b. 15 per cent
c. 20 per cent
2. According to statistics in a report by the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, Hong Kong had about 13,000 restaurants in 2010. How many were fast-food outlets?
a. 5 per cent
b. 9 per cent
c. 13 per cent
3. Which of the following so-called value meals contains more than 1,000 calories (or half the recommended daily intake for an average woman)?
a. McDonald's Big Mac meal
b. KFC two-piece chicken breast or thigh Hot & Spicy meal
c. Triple O's Original Burger meal
4. In the 2004 film Super Size Me, Morgan Spurlock eats all his meals at McDonald's for a month. How much weight does he gain?
a. 2.7 kilograms
b. 5.4 kilograms
c. 10.8 kilograms
Answers: 1. a; 2. b; 3. all are correct; 4. c (and it took him almost 14 months to lose the weight)
