ONE in seven pupils complain of frequent asthma-like wheezing, but doctors fail to identify the life-threatening disease in almost all cases, according to the first wide-ranging survey of youngsters' health.
More than one-third do not feel safe in their homes at night, half eat biscuits, sweets or cakes daily and almost half the girls spend money on 'present-buying' every week.
The findings were revealed yesterday in a survey of 5,000 secondary school students, carried out by the University of Hong Kong's Drug Addiction Research Unit.
Its findings on asthma symptoms have worried the report's authors, including science lecturer Dr Jeffrey Day.
'The question is: are Hong Kong doctors failing to pick up respiratory problems? But silence is the usual resounding answer you get from the medical profession,' he said.
The disease kills up to 30 young people a year, but the report showed less than one-third of teenagers who reported 'frequent or very frequent wheezing' were getting treatment.
