About 94 per cent of Hong Kong’s students do not get enough daily exercise and 17.5 per cent are overweight, authorities have warned, urging schools and parents to tackle the growing fitness crisis together.
The government report released on Tuesday also flagged low fruit and vegetable intake, poor vision health and excessive recreational screen time among students.
The findings were based on surveys and annual health assessments conducted by the Department of Health for the 2024-25 school year, covering about 428,000 primary and secondary pupils in Hong Kong.
The department said 17.5 per cent of students were overweight, up 0.4 percentage points from the previous school year. The problem was slightly more prevalent among secondary school students, at 17.9 per cent, than primary school students, at 17.2 per cent.
“Being overweight during childhood and adolescence adversely affects health and is associated with a greater risk and earlier onset of various non-communicable diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and certain cancers,” said Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, a community medicine consultant for the department.
“Childhood and adolescent obesity can also have adverse psychosocial consequences, affecting students’ school performance and quality of life,” she said at a briefing.
