The Department of Health today released the Report of Health Behaviour Survey 2023, showing major health-related behaviours and lifestyle practices of the general population in Hong Kong.

The survey was conducted between July and November 2023. More than 4,800 land-based non-institutional population of Hong Kong aged 15 or above were interviewed.

The report revealed that the prevalence of unhealthy but modifiable lifestyle practices are common among the Hong Kong population. They are important risk factors for developing common non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

Regarding physical activity participation, 14.8% of the adult population aged 18 or above performed an insufficient level of physical activity, ie did not meet the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation.

The department pointed out that a significant improvement in the prevalence of physical inactivity is observed when compared to the findings of the Population Health Survey (PHS) conducted in 2020-22, which was possibly partly related to the resumption of normalcy from the COVID-19 pandemic.

For fruit and vegetables intake, 97% of people had an inadequate intake, ie consumed less than 400g or five servings of fruit and vegetables per day as recommended by the WHO, similar to the findings of the 2020-22 PHS.

The proportion of the population aged 15 or above who had engaged in binge drinking at least monthly increased from 2% in PHS 2020-22 to 2.7%.

The proportion of people aged 50 to 75 who were screened for colorectal cancer increased from 42.6% in PHS 2020-22 to 46.2%, but the uptake of cervical screening among women aged 25 to 64 was 49.8%, which was lower than that in PHS 2020-22.

To prevent NCDs, people should lead a healthy lifestyle, such as maintaining sufficient physical activity, having a balanced diet, keeping a healthy body weight, not smoking and avoiding alcohol consumption, the department explained.

Those eligible are also urged to join government-subsidised cancer screening programmes as soon as possible, including the Colorectal Cancer Screening Programme and the Cervical Screening Programme.

Click here for the Report of Health Behaviour Survey 2023.