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Hongkongers love their roast pork and other kinds of siu mei, or Chinese-style barbecued meat. 
But, a dietitian warns, more than one piece a week can be hazardous to your health if you leave the juicy fat and crispy skin on when you eat it.
The average Hongkonger eats siu mei 1.79 times a week, or once every four days, a survey of 1,706 people in the past two months by health website healthyD.com found. 
The survey, the first of its kind, shows char siu - barbecued pork marinated in honey - is the most popular. Roast pork or pork belly ranks second, and roast goose third.
Dietitians warn of the high risk of heart disease and stroke in eating too much fatty meat. 
Roast pork belly is the most dangerous kind of siu mei, with roasted spare ribs next, registered dietitian Sally Poon Shi-po  said. 
'You can't get rid of the fat no matter how hard you try. One shouldn't take them more than once a week,' she said referring to both kinds. Chicken has less saturated fat and is the healthiest kind, she said. 
Poon said one should not eat siu mei too often - at most twice a week. Each time, a woman can take up to 80 grams, about four to six pieces. Men can take up to 120 grams, six to eight pieces. But that is provided one removes the fat and skin, she said.
'Fatty meat and skin are unhealthy food,' she said. 
'Eating more than one piece a week is too much. If you do eat it, you may need to exercise for at least half an hour to make up for it.'
Some people like their siu mei charred, and some like theirs with condiments like soya sauce, plum sauce or mashed ginger. But Poon said eating the charred parts can cause cancer, and salty, oily sauces can cause high blood pressure.
Of those surveyed, 78 per cent said they knew eating siu mei  was unhealthy, but only 1 per cent said they had stopped eating it for health reasons; 45 per cent admitted they ignored the risks to their health. 
Eating fatty siu mei increases the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke, because animal fats contain a large amount of saturated fats, which stimulate the liver to make the bad cholesterol that blocks blood vessels.
A separate survey by heart disease patients' groups showed that 53 per cent of 994 people interviewed at a mobile check-up station had at least one of three risk factors for heart disease - high blood pressure, abnormal fat levels in blood and diabetes - of which they were unaware. 
'This result raises concern. It shows that many high-risk people are not alert enough,' said Dr Chan Ngai-yin, an associate consultant in cardiology at Princess Margaret Hospital,  who oversaw this survey.
Other high-risk factors include being overweight, lack of exercise, smoking and an unbalanced diet lacking in fruits and vegetables. 
Thirty per cent of heart disease patients with heart muscle death die within a month of their heart blood vessels being blocked, half of them before reaching a hospital, Chan said, citing research from abroad.



Go easy on the Siu mei, experts warn