Physical Activity and Dietary Attitudes and Behavioural Patterns in the Hong Kong Community

The health benefits of regular physical activity and a healthy diet are well established in health literature. Regular physical activity is positively associated with psychological well-being (Bize, Johnson, & Plotnikoff, 2007), and inversely correlated with various illnesses (Pedersen & Saltin, 2006). Similarly, a healthy diet may reduce the risk of certain non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and cancer (World Health Organization, 2015a; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2015), , and can also contribute to mental health and emotional benefits, as well as social well-being (Schooling, 2006).

The consequences of physical inactivity and an unhealthy diet are also well established in the literature, with the World Health Organization (WHO) reporting that physical inactivity and unhealthy diets are two of the four main modifiable behavioural risk factors that contribute to non-communicable diseases such as heart diseases, diabetes, and obesity.

Given the health benefits of regular physical activity and the detrimental effects of physical inactivity, the WHO recommends that children and young people aged 5 - 17 years should perform at least 60 minutes of moderate- or vigorous-intensity physical activity per day, and adults aged 18 years or above should perform at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity per week. In terms of diet, the WHO recommends that for adults that a daily healthy diet should contain at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables, no more than 50 g of free sugars, and no more than 5 g of salt.

Despite the health benefits of regular physical activity, most Hong Kong people live a sedentary lifestyle. Many do not meet the World Health Organization targets for physical activity. The Department of Health (2015) reports that only 15.3% of local children aged 5 - 14 years meet the WHO recommendations on physical activity for health, and the 2014 Behavioural Risk Factor Survey indicates that only 37.4% of local adults aged 18 - 64 years meet the WHO recommendations on physical activity for health. Similarly, most Hong Kong people do not adopt a healthy diet, with about four-fifths (79.0%) of adults aged 18 - 64 years failing to meet the WHO's recommendation on fruits and vegetable intake. Only 18.7% of local adults aged 18 - 64 years consume 5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day (WHO, 2015b; WHO, 2016).

As the aforementioned figures indicate, members of the Hong Kong community do not meet the WHO recommended physical activity and healthy diet standards. Since these standards of regular physical activity and a healthy diet benefit health and wellbeing and can protect against non-communicable diseases, it is important, in order to improve general health, to improve physical activity and healthy diet practices and patterns in the Hong Kong community.

This study is to examine the Hong Kong people's attitudes and behavioural patterns in relation to physical activity and a healthy diet. Attitude-behaviour gaps may be identified, providing a clear starting point and direction for future health education and awareness projects and campaigns aimed towards improving the general health of the Hong Kong community.