Culture of activity for Hong Kong kids as pilot project looks to combat a generation bingeing on screen time

The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust programme encourages children to take part in activities with their parents to foster a love for sports

The programme is also using analytics and big data to track results as parents still struggle to prioritise fitness alongside academics

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Anik Herawati Liechti and son Max, 8, juggle balls at Po Leung Kuk Lam Man Chan English Primary School in To Kwa Wan. They are part of a pilot project aimed at getting kids to be more physically active. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Published: 8:00am, 11 Nov 2020Updated: 10:54pm, 11 Nov 2020

Eight-year-old Max Liechti is pretty sure he wants to be one of two things when he grows up.

“I want to be a writer, I think,” said the Po Leung Kuk Lam Man Chan English Primary School student. “Or a video game tester.”

Max, who said swimming is his favourite sport right now, is one of 40,000 primary students who are part of a pilot project aimed at tackling one of the main concerns about Hong Kong’s youth: that they are too academically focused, tied to their screens and devices and in desperate need of more physical activity.

The 2018 Hong Kong Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth painted a bleak picture. Children and teenagers in Hong Kong are more glued to electronic screens than they were two years ago and spend less time exercising with their parents. Throw in a global pandemic and subsequent restrictions, and Hong Kong’s kids have an uphill battle when it comes to staying fit.

Karena Tsang, 7, and mother Jade Mok Lau-fong are part of a pilot project aimed at getting kids into activities from a young age. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Max has been doing the opposite, playing games and sports with his mother, Anik Herawati Liechti, both at home and outside, the two bonding through physical activities. The project, Fun to Move@JC, was spearheaded by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust and offers resources, classes and mobile applications all geared towards getting primary students interested in activities during peak habit-forming years. Anik said the results have been pretty easy to see.