Health is wealth. This is why Hong Kong's Department of Health has urged parents to give their children enough fruit and vegetables' intake every day.
This comes shortly after a new study headed by the Department of Health shows that only six percent of kindergartens in Hong Kong ate enough fruits and vegetables on a daily basis. The department surveyed 380 kindergartens and child care centers and 3,639 parents of K2 children from November 2016 to March 2017.
During the survey, parents claimed that 43 percent of children ate fruit daily, while 60 percent ate vegetables every day. However, the recent study shows that only six percent ate enough fruits and vegetables, at least two servings of each, every day.
In addition to that, the study also found that 51 percent of schools across Hong Kong provided instant drinks, which are high in sugar content, while 45 percent of staff and 42 percent of parents gave biscuits and candies to the pupils as a reward for good behavior.
"The issue with using food as a reward, for say good results, is that it will lead to children associating food with emotions and encourage them to eat even when they are not hungry," Dr. Anne Fung, the department's assistant director of health for health promotion, said (via South China Morning Post).
With this, Po Leung Kuk's principal education secretary for pre-primary education, Kenny Chiu, suggested a zero cost alternative for students to enjoy. He suggested teachers can reward pupils by letting them lead activities inside the classroom instead of giving them biscuits or candies which have little or no nutritional value.
Aside from that, the study also found that kindergartens are not doing enough physical activity. In fact, 71 percent of preschool pupils did not meet the minimum recommended physical activity time, which is 180 minutes per day.
Dr. Anne Fung went on to explain that the result could be due to parents being busy and not arranging enough physical activities, especially to those kids who are attending half day pre-school classes.
"Having the children pack their own bags and helping with chores also count as physical activity, which should be complemented with exercises like going to the park and skipping," Dr. Anne Fung suggested.
There are also many exercise games and indoor activities that preschoolers can do at the comfort of their home, including jumping rope, jumping jacks, obstacle course, scavenger hunt, pillow fight, and bubble bashing.
