Eating Habits of Young Persons for Healthy Aging: An Exploratory Study Involving University Students in Hong Kong

Eating Habits of Young Persons for Healthy Aging: An Exploratory Study Involving University Students in Hong Kong

Simon T. Cheung (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong) and Susan Dawkes (Edinburgh Napier University, UK)
Copyright: © 2018 |Pages: 14
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-2633-9.ch018

Abstract

Fruits and vegetables are important parts of healthy eating and they provide excellent sources of vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber in our diet. Those who consume fruits and vegetables regularly have a reduced risk of many chronic diseases. According to the WHO, inadequate consumption of fruits and vegetables may have contributed to as much as 14% of gastrointestinal cancer deaths and 11% of deaths resulted from ischemic heart disease worldwide. Since 2011, Hong Kong has been promoting a “2 Plus 3 a day” diet campaign aiming to raise the general public's awareness on consuming a minimum of 2 portions of fruits and 3 portions of vegetables a day. However, recent statistics showed that nearly 81% of people aged 18 – 64 failed to meet this requirement. This paper focuses on investigating the determinants of fruits and vegetables consumption behavior among university students in Hong Kong.
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The Case Of Hong Kong

The Hong Kong health system has often been admired by others for its ability in providing some of the best vital statistics when compared to other developed countries. In 2015, the average life expectancy at birth in Hong Kong was 87.3 for women and 81.2 for men, being one of the highest in the world; while the infant mortality rate in Hong Kong was 2 per 1,000 live births, being one of the lowest in the world (Food and Health Bureau, 2016). Healthcare services are relatively affordable in Hong Kong in which all of its citizens are eligible to receive care from public hospitals and clinics at a heavily subsidized rate.

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