A Hong Kong government report shows about 94% of students do not get enough daily exercise, with 17.5% overweight. It also flags low fruit and vegetable intake, poor vision health and excessive recreational screen time among students.
Hong Kong's Department of Health released a report on Tuesday based on surveys and annual health assessments for the 2024-25 school year, covering about 428,000 primary and secondary pupils. It warns that about 94% of students do not get enough daily exercise and 17.5% are overweight, up 0.4 percentage points from the previous school year. The overweight rate is slightly higher among secondary students at 17.9% than primary students at 17.2%. Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, a community medicine consultant for the department, said: “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.” She added: “Childhood and adolescent obesity can also have adverse psychosocial consequences, affecting students’ school performance and quality of life,” at a briefing. Authorities urged schools and parents to tackle the growing fitness crisis together.
