Media

FAMILY: A Jockey Club Initiative for a Harmonious Society "60% of Hong Kong families receive a passing grade on health - 10-point Healthy Living Index (HELI)"

21 Dec 2011

The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust funded HK$250 million and in collaboration with the School of Public Health of The University of Hong Kong, "FAMILY: A Jockey Club Initiative for a Harmonious Society" project (FAMILY project)¹ devised a health index named the "10-point Healthy Living Index" (HELI) for the public to easily assess their health status. The HELI consist of two categories - (1): healthy lifestyle (smoking habit, drinking habit, physical activities and vegetable and fruit intake); and (2): healthy status (Body Mass Index (BMI) and blood pressure).

From March 2009 to March 2011, the FAMILY Project successfully interviewed more than 20,000 Hong Kong families, gathering data regarding people's lifestyle, eating habits, health status and relationships between family members. In the survey, 8,481 families (including 18,906 individuals aged 15 years or above) were randomly selected from the general population. The average family size is 2.7 persons.

Personal and Family Healthy Living Index
According to a 10-point scale, the study finds that 64% of Hong Kong people scored 6 points (pass) or above, nearly 24% of Hong Kong people received at least 8 points (very healthy). The mean score of Hong Kong people is 6.11. On a family basis, 60% of families scored at least 6 points, but less than 10% of families reached 8 points. The mean score of Hong Kong families is 6.00 . Moreover, the study found that 90% of Hong Kong people have inadequate vegetable and fruit intake and 30% of Hong Kong people were considered obese.

Family Health, Happiness and Harmonious

From the preliminary result, in terms of health status, our study found the BMI of Hong Kong people to be below standard. According to the WHO guideline for Asians, nearly 30% of people in Hong Kong were considered obese (BMI ≥ 25kg/m²). Regarding blood pressure, 34.7% of Hong Kong people were considered pre-hypertensive (at marginal status) and 28% were considered to be in the 1st-stage of hypertension. Regarding lifestyles, 81.5% of Hong Kong people were non-smokers or have quit smoking for over 10 years; 94.6% were non-drinkers or non-problem drinkers. However, the amount of physical activity and vegetable and fruit intake were severely inadequate: only 29.7% of Hong Kong people have moderate-intensity physical activities (2.5 hours of per week) and only 10% have adequate vegetable and fruit intake (5 servings per day).

In addition to our main study, a sub-study showed that half of the 5,267 participants walked more than 8,000 steps per day, which could be considered as a basic requirement. To improve the HELI score, everyone in the family should work together to achieve family health, do more physical activities and eat more vegetables and fruits. Healthy people should also promote healthy lifestyles in their families.

Mr. Douglas So, Executive Director, Charities of The Hong Kong Jockey Club says, "We believe prevention is the best cure, that's why the Jockey Club has initiated the FAMILY project.  We hope to raise awareness of the importance of family life in hectic city like Hong Kong, so as to foster healthy family lifestyle. We encourage everyone to exercise regularly with their families and develop healthy eating habits.".

Professor LAM Tai-hing, Sir Robert Kotewall Professor in Public Health, Director of the School of Public Health and Principal Investigator of the FAMILY Project sincerely thanks the families for their participation in the baseline household survey and strongly encourages families to participate in the 2nd household survey launched in July 2011. Professor LAM points out that, "This is the first study in Hong Kong related to family health, happiness and harmony".

Regarding inadequate physical activity, Professor LAM suggests that people should try to walk more even if they do not have time for moderate physical activity. For example, getting off at an earlier bus stop and walking home with their families. Walking for half hour can contribute to an energy consumption of 300 - 400 Kcals. According to the National Institutes of Health, daily expenditure of 300 - 400 Kcals can lead to a 10 - 13 lbs reduction of weight in 6 months. Regarding inadequate vegetable and fruit intake, Professor LAM suggests that in order to satisfy the minimum standard of  5 servings of vegetable and fruit per day set by the Department of Health, prepare fruits that are ready-to-eat (such as bananas and apples) or choose different kinds of fruits and vegetables to eat (for example: vegetable clay pot). Drinking fresh fruit/vegetable juice (e.g. five green juice) is also a good alternative. He emphases that 2 servings of fruit and 3 servings of vegetables is not a compulsory combination, other combinations are feasible (for example, 3+2, as consuming fruits is easier than consuming vegetables) Professor Sophia CHAN, Research Director of the School of Nursing and Co-Investigator of the FAMILY project encourages people to use the "HELI Interactive Calculator"² with their families to calculate their individual and family HELI scores. She would also like to take this opportunity to invite the public to read the <<Happy Family Cookbook>>³ for healthy cooking inspirations.

FAMILY Project cohort study: A population-based household survey
To help build a more harmonious society, The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust has invited the School of Public Health of The University of Hong Kong to collaboratively launch a project entitled "FAMILY: A Jockey Club Initiative for a Harmonious Society" (FAMILY Project") with a HK$250 million funding. The FAMILY Project is based on the premise that traditional Chinese values of cherishing family relationships can still be adapted to modern day life, and can help promote the 3Hs - Health, Happiness and Harmony - across generations. From March 2009 to March 2011, the FAMILY Project cohort study: A population based household survey was conducted. The survey explores a wide variety of topics related to Health, Happiness, and Harmony (3Hs). Besides, the 2^nd round household survey has been started, in a period of 24 months.

Useful Information
1.    FAMILY: A Jockey Club Initiative for a Harmonious Society   
Website: http://www.family.org.hk/

(From left) Ms Imelda CHAN, Executive Manager, Charities, The Hong Kong Jockey Club, Professor LAM Tai-hing, Sir Robert Kotewall Professor in Public Health, Principal Investigator of FAMILY Project Team and Director, School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong and Professor Sophia CHAN Siu-chee, Co-Investigator of FAMILY Project Team, Research Director, School of Nursing, The University of Hong Kong	Professor LAM Tai-hing says the study finds that 90% of Hong Kong people have inadequate vegetable and fruit intake and 30% of Hong Kong people were considered obese.
Professor Sophia CHAN Siu-chee suggests the public to build up a healthy lifestyle together with their family members.	Professor LAM Tai-hing and Professor Sophia CHAN Siu-chee demonstrate how to make fresh fruit/ vegetable juice with five servings of fruits or vegetables.
The display of the portion size of each type of vegetable or fruit in one serve