Obesity among Hong Kong children increased during coronavirus pandemic due to unhealthy lifestyle, survey shows
- Number of overweight or obese children aged between nine and 13 rises from 7 per cent to 24 per cent
- Health experts attribute increase to disrupted routines leading to unhealthy eating habits, urge parents to set examples
The number of kindergarten and primary school children who are overweight or obese has increased by 1.8 times during the Covid-19 pandemic, while about one-third have thrown tantrums over the resumption of in-person classes, a Hong Kong study has found.
Among the 1,439 parents who responded to the survey, 13.5 per cent said their children had become overweight or obese amid the pandemic, while only 4.8 per cent said the problem existed two years ago.
The proportion of overweight or obese children aged between nine and 13 rose from 7 per cent to 24 per cent, according to the study carried out between mid-May and mid-June by the Hong Kong Paediatric Foundation and Chinese University.
Professor Albert Li Man-chim from the university’s department of paediatrics said the suspension of in-person classes for 450 days in total had disrupted children’s daily routines.
“It changed their eating habits. They might have more choices in food and snacks,” he said. “They might have done less exercise and had less time to enjoy the sunshine.”
He said children’s happiness also dropped by 21 per cent during the pandemic, as they might have been stuck at home most of the time.
But when face-to-face lessons resumed, some young pupils also could not get used to it, as 36 per cent of them threw tantrums and 29 per cent said they preferred virtual classes or school suspension.
“They also found it hard to get up in the morning to go to school … so parents might be irritated,” said Dr Lilian Wong Hiu-lei, the foundation’s secretary general. “Other reasons might be the pressure from homework and catching up with the syllabus at school.”
