It is early evening, and Carol Law Kam-yee is preparing a meal at home with fresh ingredients that her domestic helper bought that day from the wet market in nearby Sham Shui Po. Helping out in the kitchen are her sons Jason and Rooney, aged ten and seven. When the dishes are cooked, they will all eat together. It is quality family time, Law says. That is something many Hong Kong families are missing out on because of busy work and school schedules and a reliance on convenience food, takeaways and dining out. The 37-year-old is a former home economics teacher. It was her experience in secondary schools which made her realise the importance of a home-cooked family meal. She also noticed how home-cooked food is becoming less a part of life in Hong Kong. 'While I was teaching, I discovered that most parents do not have time to cook and children do not have any interest in eating with their families,' she says. 'Cooking is a good activity for all the family. It gives them time to communicate with each other and they can enjoy the meal together after the preparation. 'Nowadays, people like convenience food or prefer to eat outside the home. But it is harder to control the quality and quantity of the food that way. 'My boys like to prepare the meals with me if we have time. During the process, they learn how to make good use of food. It helps them to learn good habits, so they know how to choose healthy meals for themselves.' Law's views are bolstered by research from nutrition experts worldwide which shows the benefits of home cooking and sitting down and eating together as a family. A 2007 survey carried out by the University of Minnesota in the United States followed 1,500 children, first as adolescents and then at the age of 20. It found children who had family meals ate much healthier as young adults. They chose balanced foods which were richer in essential nutrients, calcium and fibre. In a separate study by the same university, girls who enjoyed five or more meals a week with their family were found less likely to adopt extreme methods like self-induced vomiting or laxatives to control their weight when they were older. At the Hong Kong Institute of Education, Dr Theresa Lai-Yeung Wai-ling has been studying family eating habits in the city. She found that the traditional family meal has undergone a transition. 'The family meal has long been a part of Chinese culture where it is treated as an important occasion every day. The dining table is seen as a place where the family meet every day and also a place where the children are socialised and parents communicate with their children,' says Lai, an assistant professor of the institute's department of health and physical education. 'Ten or 20 years ago, it was the practice to eat at home and extended families would meet once a week at the home of one of the family members. 'Today they still meet, perhaps for yum cha or dinner on Saturdays and Sundays. But very often the venue is a restaurant. 'Sometimes, if they have a domestic helper or retired parents who can cook, extended families will meet at home. But for dual-income families it is not the common practice. They prefer to eat out. They don't want the trouble of cooking after a busy working week.' A survey in April 2010 by the government's Centre for Health Protection showed about 35 per cent of people eat out for dinner two to four times a week. About nine per cent have dinner outside more than five times a week. The problem is that meals eaten in restaurants are usually not as healthy as ones cooked and eaten at home, explains Lai. 'Although the government encourages restaurants to provide healthy options, very often they will opt for cooking methods that make food delicious like frying, and use a lot of seasoning and sodium. 'The price we are paying is more bad health with conditions such as hypertension and diabetes affecting people at much younger ages.' Busy work and study schedules leave families little time to cook during the week, Lai says, let alone sit down for mealtimes together. Many turn to convenience food or takeaways, eat out, or leave the children's meals to the helper. This can have social as well as health and physical consequences, Lai says. One result is a growing number of young people who cannot cook or make healthy food choices. 'Nowadays you will find young people who are unable to boil an egg,' Lai says. 'You don't need to teach children to cook. They will be able to pick up some skills just by observation. 'But some young parents don't know how to cook. So they can't be a role model and young children are not exposed to home cooking. 'A recent survey of year one students in university hostels found many of them could not cook. They had to depend on the canteen, convenience foods or fast food. Some were only eating bread rolls, others were living off cup noodles.' Sally Poon Shi-Po, a registered dietitian and member of the Hong Kong Nutrition Association, says the family meal is an ideal occasion for parents and children to bond, to communicate with each other, and to learn good habits. 'Children mimic their parents, so it is the time when they can learn healthy eating habits from them,' says Poon, who previously worked with overweight children in Britain. 'A parent should try and eat a little bit of everything and be a role model. Parents should educate their children about why certain foods are good for health. If parents eat vegetables with smiles on their faces, a child may be more likely to try eating them. But if children eat alone, they may be scared to try something new.' Like most modern mums, Law juggles child-raising and her career. She runs her own cookery school, and has some classes aimed at parents and children. Her husband Alex often works in Macau, which means they only find time to eat as a complete family at the weekends. But she believes it is worth the extra effort to maintain control over the family diet and has devised her own strategies. She gives detailed instructions to her helper on preparing meals. Dr Lai reckons learning to cook at home is even more important now that children are less likely to pick up skills in class. There has been a decline in schools offering home economics over the past two years. 'Research suggests that if people don't know how to cook, they don't know where fats and sugars are hidden in food. So even if there are healthy options in restaurants, they don't have the competence to choose healthy foods.' Regardless of how busy they are, Poon and Lai reckon that parents should try to make some time to cook and eat with their children, even if it is only at the weekend. If they cannot be there to share the meal with the youngster, Poon advises them to ensure that their helpers understand the importance of healthy, balanced meals. Parents could also try to involve children in shopping for groceries, she says. 'I always tell the parents, if you have time take the children to the market or a farm, let them see raw vegetables and fruits. When I was working in London with overweight kids, I would ask them where potatoes come from and they would name a fast-food chain. That might not be the case in Hong Kong now, but it could be in the future.'
