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The "EatSmart@school.
At the 10th anniversary of the ESS Campaign cum EatSmart School Accreditation Ceremony 2016 held today (June 21), the Director of Health, Dr Constance Chan, said that since the launch of the ESS Campaign in the 2006/07 academic year and the ESAS in the 2009/10 academic year to promote the creation of a healthy eating environment in primary school, more than 240 primary schools, accounting for over one-third of all primary schools in Hong Kong, have enrolled and more than 100 of them have attained accreditation. Of all the accredited schools, about 80 per cent have achieved the highest honour of EatSmart School.
The school accreditation is valid for three years. This year four schools achieved EatSmart School accreditation for the third time consecutively, namely Five Districts Business Welfare Association Chow Chin Yau School, North Point Government Primary School (Cloud View Road), Po Leung Kuk Fong Wong Kam Chuen Primary School and Diocesan Girls' Junior School. They were presented with the Award for Continuous Promotion of Healthy Eating at School today in commendation of their commitment in implementing a healthy eating policy and helping students to develop a healthy eating habit. They have been offering healthy lunches and snacks on campus in accordance with the nutrition requirements stipulated in the "Nutritional Guidelines on Lunch for Students" and "Nutritional Guidelines on Snacks for Students" of the DH.
According to the accreditation criteria of the ESAS, accredited schools have to demonstrate a commitment to continuously implementing administrative measures, providing healthy lunches and snacks, and organising educational programmes and publicity events to create a nutrition-friendly school learning environment for students.
Dr Chan praised all accredited schools as exemplars of the education sector. In addition, she said she was grateful for the participation and support of the principals, teachers, parents and students of each school, as well as the understanding and co-operation of food suppliers, to make campuses a nutrition-friendly environment for learning and living. She also expressed her gratitude for the long term support and guidance of the EDB and members of the EatSmart@school.
According to Dr Chan, a survey conducted recently by the DH on fruit consumption by primary school students revealed that students of accredited schools outperform those of non-accredited schools on knowledge about fruit and fruit consumption, such as knowing the need to take at least two servings of fruit a day (72 per cent versus 69 per cent); bringing fruit from home to school for consumption in the past week (39 per cent versus 33 per cent); and eating two servings or more of fruit a day (33 per cent versus 28 per cent). On the aspect of promoting fruit eating at schools, more students from the accredited schools agree that their schools always/sometimes organise activities to encourage daily fruit eating (68 per cent versus 57 per cent), and principals or teachers always/sometimes encourage students to eat fruit daily (61 per cent versus 52 per cent). With home-school co-operation and the collaborative efforts of the education sector, government and stakeholders, the overweight and obesity rates of primary school students in Hong Kong have dropped from 22.2 per cent in 2009/10 to 18.7 per cent in 2014/15.
It is worth noting that unhealthy eating habits, physical inactivity and obesity are among the causes of type 2 diabetes. Diabetes prevalence has been rising globally. One out of 10 people in Hong Kong suffers from diabetes. One-fifth of diabetic patients experiences symptom onset before the age of 40. There is also an increasing trend of young-onset diabetes. A local study reported a 12-fold increase in the incidence of type 2 diabetes among children and adolescents aged below 19, from about 0.2 per 100 000 persons in 1997 to 2.6 per 100 000 persons in 2007. This suggests that promoting healthy eating to primary school students, encouraging them to do regular physical activity and maintaining normal body weight are tasks of paramount significance, said Dr Chan.
Also officiating at the ceremony, the Acting Principal Assistant Secretary of the EDB, Ms Ching Suk-yee, said "under the ongoing curriculum renewal of the 'Learning to Learn' reform, school education will continue to promote whole person development and lifelong learning capabilities of students. With 'Developing a Healthy Lifestyle' as one of the overarching learning goals of the school curriculum in Hong Kong, we appeal to all stakeholders to work closely together to provide students with related quality learning experiences and opportunities for self-reflection, so that they can deepen their understanding of the concept of health and be willing to put it into practice. We hope that all our students are able to develop healthy living habits so as to lay a solid foundation for lifelong learning and whole-person development."
More information on the ESS Campaign is available at the DH's thematic website (school.eatsmart.gov.hk).
Ends/Tuesday, June 21, 2016
Issued at HKT 19:38
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