The status of health-promoting schools in Hong Kong and implications for further development.
An evaluation framework, called the Hong Kong Healthy Schools Award, has been developed to enable comprehensive collection and analysis of data reflecting the status of health-promoting schools (HPS) in Hong Kong. The key findings revealed a high prevalence of emotional problems, unhealthy eating habits, physical inactivity and risk-taking behaviours, leading to both intentional and unintentional injuries among students with higher prevalence among secondary school students. The results indicated a substantial lack of health policies in schools; it also indicated health services in schools not readily accessible to students and staff, and insufficient staff training in health promotion and education. However, most schools have made initiatives in environmental protection, established safety guidelines and strategies for managing students with emotional problems. The success of HPS depends largely on teachers' understanding of its building blocks. Evidence from the comprehensive mapping of the status of HPS in Hong Kong and from student surveys does show encouraging outcomes as well as identifying priority issues to be addressed in the next 5 years.
Lee
Albert
A
Centre for Health Education and Health Promotion, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 4th Floor, Lek Yuen Health Centre, Shatin, N. T., Hong Kong. alee@cuhk.edu.hk
St Leger
Lawrence
L
Cheng
Frances F K
FF
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D015438:Health Behavior; D006292:Health Priorities / Q000639:trends*; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006306:Health Surveys; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D012572:School Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012574:Schools / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013334:Students