To address the problem of childhood obesity in Hong Kong, the Department of Health has been working on a set of nutritional guidelines on snacks and lunches for students, as well as the EatSmart school accreditation scheme. Although, as pre-service teachers, we applaud these initiatives, we would urge the department to ensure not only that these guidelines are strictly followed by schools and food suppliers, but also that the students themselves are provided with better instruction on healthy eating habits. The guidelines serve as a practical reference for schools and food suppliers to create a healthy-eating environment. However, after communicating with the Department of Health, we learned that the self-evaluation forms attached to the guidelines, and the EatSmart school accreditation scheme, are only conducted on a voluntary basis. As a result, schools may not have the time or resources to monitor the food they provide. Also, food suppliers, to maximise their profits, may place more emphasis on popular but unhealthy food items, as these are more attractive to students. To curb the problem of childhood obesity at its root, we believe that monitoring both schools and food suppliers through official channels can help prevent cases of violations of the guidelines and ensure food quality. For example, by making the self-evaluation forms mandatory, schools will be required to carefully review the food they offer students and restrict unhealthy food items. In addition, food suppliers should be made to list detailed nutritional information about all items they supply, including lunchboxes and prepared food, so that schools can make more informed choices. There should also be more direct instruction to students about healthy eating. No matter how many healthy meals schools provide, students are the ones making the choices. The approach currently adopted by the Department of Health focuses on healthy-eating workshops for teachers and food suppliers, but not for those who make the final meal choices – the students. Without enough education on the importance of nutritious meals, students may only go for the appetising but fattening snacks on offer. We believe that by monitoring the provision and consumption of unhealthy food in schools more strictly, the obesity rate can be controlled. It is important for the Department of Health to continue taking steps to prevent the obesity rate from rising. Tiff Lau, Phoebe Ko and Jeffrey Lau, Kowloon Tong