DH issued nutritional guidelines on snacks for primary school students

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The Department of Health (DH) has produced a set of guidelines targeted at parents, tuck shop operators and school managements on the provision of healthy snacks to primary school children to help prevent diet-related health problems such as obesity, heart disease, cancer and diabetes.

Introducing the guidelines at a press conference today (June 30), Assistant Director of Health, Dr Regina Ching, said the current situation was not satisfactory because a recent study by the Department had found only about 10 percent of snacks brought back to school for consumption by primary school students were healthy.

"Healthy eating and snacking in school have a strong influence over the health of the primary school children, and are also essential in preventing obesity and chronic diseases in the long term."

"The guidelines can serve as a practical guidance on how to choose healthy snacks," Dr Ching said.

During the study, more than 9 000 students and 9 000 parents in 44 primary schools were interviewed. It found that only about 10 percent of the food items or beverages sold in schools with tuck shops or vending machines were healthy.

"Only 40 per cent of the students interviewed preferred healthy food items to less healthy ones, although 90 per cent of them could generally tell whether they were good for health or not," she said.

Dr Ching pointed out that these findings explained why there was growing threat of obesity among children in Hong Kong . There was a definite knowledge-attitude gap where healthy eating is concerned.

"The Department's Student Health Service detected a rising trend of obesity among primary school students, from 16.4 per cent in 1997/98 to 18.7 per cent in 2004/05. Chronic diseases largely related to lifestyle practices, including healthy eating, accounted for around 60 percent of all registered deaths among the population in 2005," she added.

The "Nutritional Guidelines on Snacks for Primary School Students" will be sent to principals of all primary schools as well as chairpersons of all "Parent Teacher Associations".

A series of activities have been organised to promote the guidelines. A standing circular issued by the Education and Manpower Bureau has been updated to incorporate the healthy snack guidelines. Television and radio APIs on the theme were also produced and would be broadcast from today.

She said the main areas covered by the guidelines include the principles of having snack, how to choose healthy snacks and the role of schools, parents and tuck shop operators in enabling and supporting healthy snacking.

Generally speaking, snacks can be provided to a child

• if he or she feels hungry between main meals
• with at least a time lag of 1.5-2 hours in between two intakes
• in small amount with the principle that it does not spoil children's appetite for the next main meal

The principles of choosing healthy snacks include:

• Choose fresh and natural food, mainly cereals, vegetables and fruit.
• Opt for "low-fat", "low-sugar", "low-salt" and "high-fibre" snacks.
• Select low-fat dairy products.
• Drink water instead of sugary drinks.

In the snack guidelines, food items and beverages are classified into three groups according to their nutritional value. This way of categorization provides practical guidance and examples to users on how to choose and promote children's consumption of healthy snacks. The grouping consists of -

• Snacks to Choose More e.g. hi-fibre biscuits, dried fruit without added sugar, fresh fruit, plain yoghurt without added sugar, low fat or skimmed milk.
• Snacks to Choose in Moderation e.g. salted seaweed, dried fruit with added sugar, sweetened fruit juices.
• Snacks to Choose Less e.g. biscuits coated with chocolate, crisps and chips, deep fried food items.

Dr Ching stressed that parental support would be critical to the success of the healthy snack guidelines as parents could serve as role models for children and play a crucial role in teaching children how to make healthy choices. They should also work closely with schools and tuck shop operators to provide more healthy choices and foster a school environment supportive of healthy eating habits.

The "Nutritional Guidelines on Snacks for Primary School Students" were endorsed by the Steering Committee of the territory wide "EatSmart@school.hk" campaign aimed at promoting healthy eating among primary school students. A set of guidelines on school lunch was released in April for caterers and school managements to ensure provision of balanced school lunch boxes to whole-day primary school students.

Also speaking in the press conference were Ms Mandy Ho, Health Promotion Coordinating Officer and Registered Dietitian of Centre for Health Education and Health Promotion, Faculty of Medicine of the Chinese University of Hong Kong , principals, teachers and parents of the Sung Tak Wong Kin Sheung Memorial School and PLK Fong Wong Kam Chuen Primary School .

Details of the "Nutritional Guidelines on Snacks for Primary School Students" can be found on the website of the Department's Central Health Education Unit (http://www.cheu.gov.hk). Members of the public are also encouraged to give their views on and indicate support for healthy eating for students to DH through e-mail (health_cheuweb@dh.gov.hk).

End/Friday, June 30, 2006

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