Peer pledge: Permanent Secretary for Health, Welfare & Food Sandra Lee (centre) officiates at the Healthy Eating Ambassador Programme launch.

More than 200 cub scouts and brownies have pledged to help promote good eating habits among their peers.

The Healthy Eating Ambassador Programme aims to encourage about 50,000 cub scouts and brownies to develop and maintain healthy eating habits. They will also help spread the message to the community.

Training workshops on healthy eating will be held for scout and girl guide leaders to help them organise related activities effectively and with confidence.

A booklet on the programme covers four challenging areas - knowledge, attitude, action and promotion - so young members can acquire healthy eating habits in an enjoyable manner. Those who have completed the assessment may wear a specially designed badge on their uniform and formally become healthy eating ambassadors.

A worrying rise in the obesity rate has been recorded in the last decade and almost one in five schoolchildren is now obese. This is closely related to a lack of exercise and poor eating habits.

Permanent Secretary for Health, Welfare & Food Sandra Lee said she is delighted to see the Scout and Girl Guides Associations rendering active support to the EatSmart@school.hk campaign and setting up the ambassador programme with the assistance of the Department of Health.

She is confident that with community support and collaboration, the EatSmart@school.hk campaign will bear fruit. More information on the campaign is available here.