MOST Hong Kong people favour smoke-free zones in restaurants, according to a survey conducted by 22 primary school pupils.
Ten-year-old Lester Lee, one of the participants, said 85.4 per cent of the 145 people interviewed, said they preferred to eat in the smoke-free area of a restaurant.
'They do not want to be passive smokers. Most said they would like to see more restaurants setting up non-smoking areas,' said the Primary Four pupil.
The honorary secretary of Action on Smoking or Health, Christopher Leung Man-kit, said the findings of the survey, conducted by Yew Chung International School pupils, were similar to those of a previous survey.
In 1988, the University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong conducted a similar survey and found that 84 per cent of the people supported smoke-free areas.
'After seven years, people still feel the same. I think there is no reason to oppose legislation requiring restaurants to set up smoke-free zones,' Dr Leung said.
Koo Ngar-shan, editor officer of the Yew Chung Education Foundation, said apart from examining people's smoking habits and attitudes, the survey was also aimed at raising students' awareness about the dangers of smoking.