Eat smart: Director of Health Dr PY Lam (first left) and Permanent Secretary for Food & Health (Health) Sandra Lee (second left) launch the EatSmart@restaurant.hk campaign.

A total of 710 outlets of 116 restaurants have enrolled to participate in the EatSmart@restaurant.hk campaign to promote healthy eating by offering healthier dishes.

Launching the campaign today, Director of Health Dr PY Lam said a restaurant baseline study conducted in 2007 showed that eating habits of young people aged between 18 and 34, in particular men, were very unhealthy.

One out of six people consumes high fat food including deep fried food and poultry with skin every day, he said, adding unhealthy eating is closely linked to the development of obesity and chronic diseases including cancer, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.

He urged the public to support healthy eating by patronising EatSmart restaurants and recommending EatSmart dishes to friends and family members to encourage more restaurants to join the campaign.