On Dec. 28, the Department of Health published the first part of the Report of Population Health Survey 2020-22, which is the third territory-wide population health survey (PHS) conducted. It was found that nearly a quarter of adults had insufficient physical activity, nearly 98 percent of them had insufficient daily consumption of fruits and vegetables, and less than half of them were screened for colorectal and breast cancer screening at the recommended age range.
The survey was conducted between November 2020 and January 2022, while the interview covered over 16,000 land-based non-institutional residents aged 15 or above in Hong Kong, involving more than 7,400 domestic households.
The survey found that Hongkongers have some unhealthy living habits:
- In looking at physical activity, nearly a quarter of adults over 18 have insufficient physical activity, that is, perform at least 150-300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity; or at least 75-150 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity during the week as recommended by the WHO. However, according to the WHO, this percentage is similar to the global physical activity status.
- Compared to the Report of Population Health Survey 2014/15, insufficient physical activity has significantly worsened. The Department of Health said some of the reasons might be due to the pandemic restrictions imposed by the authorities.
- In addition, the result showed that 14.4 percent of persons aged 15 or above reported that they had smoked. Two percent of the persons had binge drinking sessions at least once a month, consuming at least five cans of beer, five glasses of table wine, or five nips of spirits on a single occasion.
- In preventive health practices, many individuals did not do the cancer screening according to the Cancer Expert Working Group advice. Only 42.6 percent of persons aged 50-75 reported ever having a fecal occult blood test (FOBT)—a test for colon cancer. However, more than half of the women aged 25-64 had undergone the cervical screening, and around 40 percent of women aged 44-69 had done mammography screening.
