The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) released a report which showed that Hong Kong’s children and adolescents perform poorly in overall physical activity and obesity compared to those from other locations worldwide.
Children and adolescents’ development is always a hot issue of global concern. The three-year pandemic has especially made a significant impact on children and adolescents, which must not be overlooked.
An interdisciplinary research team from the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) released the 2022 “Hong Kong Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Adolescents” on Dec. 14, which showed that Hong Kong children and adolescents perform poorly in physical activity and obesity. In addition, in active play and physical fitness, they scored below the global average.
The Report Card provides a synthesis of the best available evidence across indicators, such as “Overall Physical Activity, Organised Sport and Physical Activity, Physical Fitness, Sleep, and Obesity.” The research team collected data from published academic journals and scientific journals and compared Hong Kong’s data with those of 57 countries and regions.
The card showed that children and adolescents in Hong Kong perform poorly in “Overall Physical Activity” and “Obesity” with grades of D-. The D- grade for “Overall Physical Activity” corresponds to 25 percent of children and adolescents meeting the physical activity guidelines on average, which reflects an insufficient level. This grade declined compared with the 2018 Hong Kong Report Card (C-).
A student interviewed by the Epoch Times said that due to the blockade of many venues during the epidemic, the opportunities for exercising have indeed been greatly reduced.
In terms of the “Obesity” indicator, it remained unchanged compared with the 2018 report card, indicating that the overweight or obesity situation in Hong Kong is still serious. The research team pointed out that in response to the epidemic, they made a video to teach children how to exercise at home.
The report card also found that active play, sedentary behaviour, and physical fitness in Hong Kong scored below the global average, indicating that active play is limited, recreational screen time is high (watching screens), and physical fitness is poor among Hong Kong children and adolescents. The research team pointed out that transitioning from physical classes to online classes during the epidemic would impact these three aspects.
In view of the fact that many unvaccinated children and adolescents cannot go to school and are not allowed to enter government sports venues, some members of the research team told The Epoch Times that as the mortality rate of children and adolescents infected with Covid-19 is actually low; the government should prioritize their health development over the vaccine policy. After all, healthy physical and mental development is necessary to develop a strong immunity to defeat Covid-19.
Subdivided housing is also a long-term social issue in Hong Kong. Many children and adolescents grow up in a very tiny environment, lacking space for active play. Another member of the research team told The Epoch Times that the government is constantly spending money on building new roads and tunnels, but more open spaces should be provided near residential buildings so that children and adolescents can do some simple exercises there every day.
The research team finally suggested that the government should invest in supporting sports participation and sports programmes inside and outside school and increase the availability of sports facilities. The guest speaker, the Principal of Stewards Pooi Kei Primary School, said that his school allowed the students to take a 5-minute break between classes, so they don’t sit continuously. He encouraged other schools to follow suit.
