Personal Development – Healthy Lifestyle
Issue: Do you have healthy diet and lifestyle?
Suggested time allocation:4 Lessons
Objectives:
1. to understand the meaning of a healthy diet and lifestyle;
2. to identify the elements for a healthy diet and lifestyle;
3. to understand the importance of adopting a healthy diet and lifestyle; and
4. to formulate a plan of living up to a healthy diet and lifestyle.
Learning Activities:
Lessons & Activities
Enquiry Questions
Lessons 1-2
 Eating patterns of
today’s youngsters
（Activities 1 & 2）



What is a healthy
diet for youngsters?
What are the factors
affecting
the
youngsters’ practice

of a healthy diet?
How would you live
up to a healthy diet?
Elements of a
healthy diet
（Activities 3 & 4）
Lessons 3-4
 Lifestyle
of
today’s youngsters
 Elements
that
comprise a healthy
lifestyle
 A self-reflection of


Knowledge
/ Concept
Skills
Attitude
Self-image
Self-esteem
Self-concept
Healthy
lifestyle
Collecting
information,
Discussion,
Presentation
Critical
Critical
thinking,
Self-reflection
What is a healthy
lifestyle?
Does your lifestyle
meet these criteria?
their own lifestyle
（Activities 5-9）
Audio-visual Teaching Materials:
Clip 1: Food and Health (食物與健康), Science, ETV, 2001. (Chinese version)



Eating habits of Hong Kong secondary schools students (from 12min 40sec to 13min
16sec)
Balanced diet (from 13min 17sec to 14min 44sec)
Eating habits and health (from 14min 45sec to 16min 53sec)

Food pyramid (from 16min 54sec to 18min 2sec)
Clip 2: Tips for living a healthy life (健康之道), Science, ETV, 2002 (Chinese version
only)
 What is health?
 The four cornerstones to good health
 Proper diet
 Adequate exercises
Activity 1: Eating and drinking
Keep a record of the types and quantities of food and drinks you have consumed
during the last 24 hours in the following Food Diary
Food Diary
Names of food or drink consumed
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
Quantity consumed
Answer the following questions with reference to your food diary.
1. Did you have breakfast? If not, why?
2.
Did you have lunch? If not, why?
3.
Did you have dinner? If not, why?
4.
What are the factors affecting your diet?
Factors affecting your diet may include:（1）Eating habits of the family/parents:
some families prefer having congee as breakfast while other families favor dumplings rather
than rice; (2) personal factors: allergic to peanut or dairy products may prevent one from
consuming those food; (3)Social atmosphere: fast food culture’s prevalence
Students may refer to the following website:
The incalculable effect of modeling –
parents’ eating habits can affect children, Southcn.com.
http://big5.southcn.com/gate/big5/www.southcn.com/tech/commend/
200403090725.htm
Evaluate if your diet fits with the suggested quantities of food consumption in the Food
Pyramid.
Source: http://2plus3.cheu.gov.hk/html/eng/sec5_index.asp?fname=sec5_index.aspx#poster
Website for reference:
http://genesis.bch.cuhk.edu.hk/fns/fun-in-seven/english/secondary-HealthyDiet-Pyramid-Background.html
Suggested quantity for consumption
Grains
Vegetables and
Fruits
Meat, Poultry, Fish,
Eggs, Beans, and
Milk products
Fat, Oil, Sugar and
Salt
Rice, congee, different
kinds of noodles,
whole grain bread,
whole grain biscuits,
oatmeal and breakfast
cereals
Different kinds of
leafy
or
root
vegetables, melons and
fruits.
Meat, poultry, different
kinds of fishes and
seafood, eggs, beans,
nuts and seeds (e.g.
bean curd), milk and
dairy products.
3 to 6 bowls of rice (1
bowl of rice equals to
1 bowl of noodles or 2
bowls of congee or 2
slices of bread ).
6 to 8 taels of
uncooked vegetables
or 2 flat bowls of
cooked vegetables.
2 to 4 pieces of
medium sized fruits.
One of which should
be citrus fruits (e.g.
orange or tangerine).
Citrus fruits should be
eaten once daily
4 to 6 taels of meat (1
tael of meat has the
size of 1 table tennis
ball, 1 slice of ham or
1/3 piece of chicken
leg or 1 egg or 1/2
bowl of bean or nut)
and 1 to 2 cups of milk
Butter,
margarine,
salad dressings, cream
and all sorts of
cooking oil, candies,
potato chips, French
fries
and
instant
noodles, packed fruit
juice and all canned
soft drinks, preserved
meat,
fish
and
vegetables (such as
bacon, sausages, salted
fish
and
mustard
tuber). All sorts of
sauces and seasoning,
fat meat and chicken
skin, all sorts of
pan-fried
and
deep-fried foods (such
as deep-fried fillets,
chicken wings and
spring
roll,
fried
noodles or rice).
Basically, you have
had an adequate intake
of fat, oil sugar and
salt from your diet.
Over consumption can
easily lead to various
chronic deseases.
The food pyramid was released by the U.S. government in 1992. In 2005, the United States
Department of Agriculture issued a new version of food pyramid. Do you think that these
food pyramids are suitable and applicable for everybody? Why?
Suggested Answers:
We should consider the cultural differences as people living in different parts of the world
consume different staple food.
We should also take into account the different age and needs of people. For example, the food
quantity and nutrients needed by teenagers are different from the elderly. And those needed by
the pregnant differ from other women.
The people from different walks of life also have different requirements of quantity and
nutrition for their diet.
We should use the food pyramid’s suggested proportion as a basis to select food, and make
adjustments according to the different conditions like sex, age and physiology. After all,
the purpose of formulating the food pyramid, no matter old or new, is to help people achieve a
healthy eating habit.
Websites for Reference
Students can find the related information of the new and old food
pyramids in the following websites
New Food Pyramid, United States Department of Agriculture
http://www.mypyramid.gov/pyramid/index.html
Dietetic Information Centre, Hospital Authority of Hong Kong
http://www.ha.org.hk/dic/gn_01_01.html
食物金字塔錯了！Food Pyramid is Wrong! (23rd June 2005)
http://hk.lifestyle.yahoo.com/050623/254/1dti1.html
營事檔案﹕新食物金字塔面世 (26th April 2005)
http://www.mingpaohealth.com/cfm/health3.cfm?File=20050426/diet/vn
b1.txt
Activity 2
Summarize the types and quantities of food and drinks consumed within one day as
recorded in your Food Diary in Activity 1 into the four categories in the following table.
Compare your consumption quantities with the suggested amounts in the table of
Suggested Quantity for Consumption and calculate their differences.
Grains
Vegetables and
Fruits
Meat, Poultry,
Fish, Beans,
Fat, Oil, Sugar
and Salt
Eggs and Milk
products
Total
Consumption
Quantity
Difference with
the
suggested
amount (more
or less?)
Concept Map
1. According to the above table, which aspects of your diet need improvements?
Refer to the reference information and related websites:
2. Why are improvements needed in these aspects?
3. How will you make these improvements? Can you design a plan?
Homework
Try to carry out your plan for improvement and achieve the goals for three days. Then
complete the third and fourth part of the concept map.
4. What are the difficulties of carrying out your improvement plan?
5. What are the solutions to these problems?
1
2
Considering the types and quantities of food
and drinks in my food diary, I need to improve
in the following aspects:
I need to improve because:
1.
2.
3
I will use the following measures to achieve the goals stated above
4
Difficulties encountered when I carry out the above
measures:
5
To tackle with these difficulties, I tried the following solutions:
Activity 3: Self-reflection
1.
How successful are you in carrying out the measures for improvement? Please circle
the appropriate number.
Failed
1
2.
Very
successful
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
If you have been successful, congratulations! However, if you find the
measures insufficient to achieve a healthy diet, will you consider using other
measures to achieve the goals?
Activity 4: Group Activities
Designing Healthy Recipes
As a healthy and balance diet is so important, can you design a healthy recipe for the
youths nowadays with your group members? Present your healthy recipe to the whole
class.
When designing the healthy recipe, you may consider the following principles:
1. The food pyramid
2. Balanced nutrition intake
3. Energy / calories demand for different people
Choices for designing healthy recipes:
1. Healthy recipes designed for youngsters (boys), including breakfast, lunch and dinner
2. Healthy recipes designed for youngsters (girls), including breakfast, lunch and dinner
3. Buffet
4. Barbeque (BBQ)
The following items should be included in the recipes:
1. Special features of the recipes
2. Ingredients, quantity and cooking methods
3. Energy / calories
4. Types of nutrition
Websites for reference:
Website of “Heath Zone - Health Information-Exercise and
Nutrition”, Central Health Education Unit, Department of Health:
http://www.cheu.gov.hk/eng/info/exercise.htm
Website of “Two Plus Three Everyday”, Central Health Education
Unit, Department of Health
http://2plus3.cheu.gov.hk/html/eng/sec4_index.asp?fname=sec4_in
dex.aspx
“Nutrition and Heath”(營養保健), Dietetic Information Centre,
Hospital Authority
http://www.ha.org.hk/dic/gn.html
Hong Kong Dietician Association Limited
http://www.hkda.com.hk/index.html
Hong Kong Nutrition Association Ltd (香港營養學會)
http://www.hkna.org.hk/cityd-n/INTRODUCTION(CHI).HTM
Dynamic Health Education Website (動感健康教育網頁)
http://healthed.cs.cityu.edu.hk/
Eating Well
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/
Food and Health
http://www.foodandhealth.com
Reference material 1
The Fatal Recipe
An unbalanced diet can be fatal indeed! In Britain, a
20-year-old man had one: no vegetables or fruits, but
chips, buttered toast and baked beans for the three
meals a day. Later, the young man got a liver disease
with all sorts of complications. He died of excessive
blood loss during a tooth extraction.
Martin, who passed away at such an early age of twenty,
was actually killed by the deficiency in nutrients. According
to his family, as Martin grew older, his ill-balanced feeding
only got worse. Each day he fed himself with deep-fried chips, heavily buttered toast
butter, baked beans or other processed can foods He never took any vegetables or fruits.
Soon Martin got some of the flu symptoms, he panted to take even just a few steps, and
at the end, he could only rely on a wheelchair. His doctor explained that Martin’s
ill-balanced diet had burdened his liver, thus resulting in liver sclerosis.
When Martin knew that the only way for him to survive was a liver transplant, he was
too scared to take the surgery. His family hired a dietician to help him improve his
eating habits. Yet, the stiff-necked continued to live with his three meals of junk food,
plus a high salt-intake midnight snakes. Finally, Martin’s immune system broke down.
His liver was attacked and internal bleeding set in. At the end, his gum was infected,
and his teeth ought to be pulled out. Immediately he had an excessive blood loss and his
family could just stand there and look on helplessly.
Martin’s doctor named the ill-balanced diet a “fatal recipe”, for instance, salty chips,
processed food like cans and so on. That is to say, to live on deficient food is a
chronicle suicide.
偏愛“死亡菜單”營養缺 英青年拔牙流血斃命, Singtao Society (www.singtaonet.com),
January 18, 2006.
http://www.singtaonet.com/society/fantastic/t20060118_122750.html
Reference material 2
According to an investigation by the Chinese University of Hong Kong,
over 40% of secondary school students are overweight, having
hyperglycemia, high blood pressure or abnormal lipid. 32% of them
reported having hyperglycemia, a higher proportion than that of
average Hong Kong people. Worse still, 2.4% of them have more than
three of the aforesaid symptoms, making them a sufferer from Metabolic
Syndrome which increases their vulnerability to heart attack, strokes, renal failure,
diabetes and cancer.
Juliana Chan, Professor of Medicine and Therapeutics in the Chinese University of Hong Kong said
that, in the past, only people aged 40 or above suffered from Metabolic Syndrome, but now 2.4% of
teenagers have the disease, which is a grave situation. Fatness or family history of diabetes is risk
factors which increase a person’s vulnerability to Metabolic Syndrome. Prof. Chan called on
teenagers to change their living and dietary habits for the sake of health. Teenagers should pursue a
diet of low-fat, low-sugar, low-salt and high fiber and exercise more. At the same time, parents
should cultivate in children since very young the habit of good dietary habits.
Proportion of Risk Elements of Secondary School Students suffering
Metabolic Syndrome
Risk Elements
All
Male
Female
High blood pressure
32.2%
35.4%
29.5%
Abnormally high Triglyceride (causing heart 10.9%
12.2%
9.8%
attack)
A long waistline
9.0%
8.9%
9.1%
Low high-density Lipoproteins (which protects 2.4%
2.6%
2.2%
the heart)
Abnormally high blood sugar level
0.3%
0.4%
0.3%
Note: If a person shows 3 out of 4 of the above risks elements (Items 2 and 4 are
lipid problems), s/he has got the Metabolic Syndrome.
No. of respondents: 2115 (Male: 960, Female: 1155)
Source: The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Preventive Measures of Metabolic Syndrome
 Do not smoke
 Do more exercise, at least 30 minutes exercise everyday
 Walk on the staircases rather than taking the escalator
 Pursue a diet of “3 Low 1 High”, i.e. low-fat, low-sugar, low-salt and high fiber
 Less meat, more rice, vegetables and fruit
Source:
Dr. Ching Cheuk Tuen Regina, Assistant Director-General of
Department of Health
Dr. Chow Chun Chung Francis Chairman of Hong Kong Association
for the Study of Obesity
運動不足 飲食欠妥 32％中學生血壓高 2.4%患「代謝綜合症」 易患致命心血管
病, Mingpao, 26th October, 2006.
http://www.mingpaohealth.com/cfm/news3.cfm?File=20061026/news/gha1.txt
Website for reference:
Summary of the WCRF HK diet and health recommendations,
World
Cancer
Research
Fund
Hong
Kong
http://www.wcrf-hk.org/home/recommendations.lasso
“EatSmart@school.hk” Campaign, Department of Health
http://www.eatsmart.gov.hk
Department of Health
www.chp.gov.hk
Central Health Education Unit, Department of Health
http://2plus3.cheu.gov.hk/html/eng/sec5_index.asp?fname=sec5_
index.aspx
Activity 5: Entertainment
Record your daily activities for one school day and one holiday in the following table.
Date
(y)
Time
Activities
0700
0800
0900
1000
1100
1200
1300
1400
1500
1600
1700
1800
1900
2000
2100
2200
2300
2400
0100
0200
0300
0400
0500
0600
(m)
At School
(d)
(y)
(m)
Activities
(d)
Activity 6: Group discussion
The definition of “health” given by the World Health Organization (WHO) is “a state of complete
physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”
WHO issued its famous Victoria Declaration in 1992, pointing out the following 4 cornerstones of a
healthy life.
(1) maintaining a proper diet
(2) regular exercise: Everyone should choose the appropriate forms of sports according to his
own condition and form the habit of doing exercise
(3) a clean lifestyle without smoking or drugs
(4) a balanced state of mind: physical, mental and social well-being means health
If the Hong Kong SAR now set up a Healthy Life Committee and assigned you as its member to
formulate a set of criteria for a healthy lifestyle for Hong Kong citizens, what would you and your
group members suggest as the criteria for a healthy lifestyle? Write 5 criteria based on the reference
materials and the video “Tips for Living a Healthy Life”.
Students can make suggestions according to the following aspects, or use their own
methods of classification
 Physical（Food, work, sleep, sports）


Mental/Emotional
Relation with others（social circle, friends, family）
1
2
3
Criteria for a healthy lifestyle
4
5
Reference material 1
A survey with teenagers found that respondents generally regarded the following habits
as necessary criteria for leading a healthy life: maintaining personal hygiene, no smoking
or drinking, exercising regularly, eating more vegetables and less meat and having
breakfasts every day. The first three of these criteria secured more than 90% of
respondents' support. The results reflected that teenagers are very aware of the
importance of a healthy lifestyle.
However, the survey showed that there was a great discrepancy between their perception
of a healthy lifestyle and their own daily lives. Only 60 and 68% of the respondents have
the habit of having fruits and breakfast everyday respectively. Among the interviewees
who are in schoolings, a relatively small percentage of them have breakfast everyday.
Only 58% of the respondents reported doing exercise regularly, in which male
interviewees make up a bigger share than their female counterparts.
In addition, more than 15% of respondents
reported having the habit of smoking and
drinking while over 65% of respondents go to
bed only after midnight and the age group of
20-24 accounted for the majority. The results
reflected that there is a great difference
between teenagers’ perception of a healthy
lifestyle and their actions.
Youth's Views on Healthy Lifestyles. Youth Opinion Polls No. 68, the Hong Kong
Federation of Youth, July 1999.
http://www.hkfyg.org.hk/yrc/english/yr-polls-68-e.htm
Reference material 2
According to the findings of the first-ever territory-wide fitness test on
Hong Kong citizens, 30 is the age at which our physical
fitness starts to go downhill, but regular exercise can reverse
the trend.
The Physical Fitness Test for the Community, organized by
the Leisure and Cultural Services Department under the steer of the
Community Sports Committee of the Sports Commission, was conducted
between November 2005 and March 2006 on over 8,000 people. The test
sample was divided into four age groups: toddlers aged between 3 and 4;
children between 7 and 12; youngsters between 13 and 19 and adults between
20 and 69.
The test revealed that the overweight problem became noticeably worse after the age of 30
and this tendency was more obvious among males than among females. In the sample, 50%
of males aged over 30 and 64% of males aged over 40 were overweight. The corresponding
percentages for female participants were 30% and 40%. One quarter of male participants
older than 30 were classified as obese. The proportion rose to 35 % when counting only
those older than 40. The corresponding percentages for female age groups were both 17%.
The test indicated that the majority of the participants did not have enough physical
activities. Only 26% of the adults and 33.8% of the children and youngsters have enough
exercises to maintain physical health.
Dr Lo Wing-lok, Convener of the Advisory Committee on the Physical Fitness Test for the
Community said, “We recommend that people should do physical exercise of moderate
intensity three to five times a week. By ‘moderate intensity’, we mean the
exercise should cause you to sweat lightly and raise your temperature and
heartbeat but should not be too much. In particular, adults should exercise
for a total of 30 minutes a day. Youngsters (aged 13 to 19) should do
moderate or intense exercise three times weekly, each time lasting for no less
than
20 minutes, whereas children (primary students aged 12 or below) should have 60 minutes
of physical activities each day."
Source:
調查：港人 30 歲體質轉差, Mingpao, 23rd September, 2006.
http://www.mpinews.com/htm/INews/20060923/gb61813k.htm
Reference material 3
“Hikikomori” (or Teen hermit), the teenagers addicted to comics,
animations and internet, withdrawing themselves from social life,
has become a new phenomenon in Hong Kong and is gaining
prevalence. Ah Yan, 18 year old, is one of them. She had made
herself a “hikikomori” by indulging in computer games to evade
dealing with HKCEE. “During the period, I stuck at home playing
computer games everyday. And I went through three days without
washing myself, I was afraid of seeing others when I walked on the
street!” And the “period” had lasted for more than two months. In
view of the seriousness of the problem, some organizations urged parents to spend 10 to
20 minutes communicating with their children everyday, to reduce their children’s
chances of becoming “hikikomori”.
From June to July, Yaumatei Integrated Service for Young People of the Salvation Army
conducted a research on Hikikomori, which found that their habit of reclusion
(withdrawing from social life) is very positively related with their relationships with
parents and peers. Among them, those with higher tendency of reclusion spend less time
with their parents than those who showed a smaller tendency of reclusion. The percentage
of the former and latter spending less than an average of 3 hours with their parents per
day in the previous week is 63% and 45% respectively. But even when they were staying
with their parents, there would usually or often be quarrels.
On the other hand, nearly 70% of the respondents in the highly reclusive group and more
than half of the less reclusive one reported that they would not share their secrets and
worries with their parents. And the percentage of the respondents spending less than 10
minutes a day talking with their parents is 58% for the former group and 48% for the
latter.
Moreover, the weekly frequencies of those in the highly reclusive group going out with
their friends is just one-third that of the less reclusive group. Among those in the former
group, nearly 50% revealed having no classmates with whom they can talk about their
worries and secrets. And only 20% of them participated in extra curricular activities for
more than 3 hours a week.
The used-to-be “Hikikomori”: I get satisfaction from work
“My relation with my mother is not good. She always shouts at me, making me feel very
annoyed.”, said the 18-year-old girl, Ah-Yan, in an interview with that organization. It
was only after she started working that she found a sense of satisfaction from work,
which led her away from the cyber world and to the reality.
Miss Hoi-chee Chan, a social worker of the Yaumatei Integrated Service for Young
People of the Salvation Army urges the parents to spend 10 to 20 minutes a day talking
with their children, communicating with them even more if their children show signs of
reclusion, so as to find out the reason behind it.
Source:
港隱蔽青年趨增, Ming Pao, 11th September, 2006
http://news.sina.com.hk/cgi-bin/news/show_news.cgi?ct=headlines&type=hongkong&date
=2006-09-11&id=2208730
Reference material 4
A HKU public opinion research scheme study reveals, among over 500 youngsters
interviewed, 17% said they play electronic games everyday. This group of electronic
game lovers has played 2.8 hour per day on average. Nearly 30% of the interviewees
said that they have experienced negative effects of playing games, including failing to
quit the game, or trying to evade problems or relax by playing games (13%), feeling
discomfort and irritable when trying to shorten the time of playing game or quit the
game (8%), worsening interpersonal relationships or developing a habit of lying (5%),
etc.
The Health Department warned that, continuously playing computer games for a long
time cause not only insufficient sleep and overweight but, in more
serious cases, also epilepsy, wearing and fatigue of muscle and
bones, etc. The Health Department reminded parents to pay
attention to the changes in mood of their children after playing
games, and set a reasonable game time slot to avoid them from
becoming too obsessive, and help them to develop other interests
such as ball games or reading.
“兩成青年天天打機，認變不安暴躁” ,Mng Pao, 7 Nov 2006.
Long-hour electronic games-playing can cause the following
adverse effects
--insufficient sleep, discomforted eyes, overweight and obesity
--triggering of epilepsy
--wear and tear on muscle and bones
--the development of more aggressive mood and behaviour (especially for violent game
players)
How to avoid obsession with electronic games
--be more selective in buying games and buy only those which are suitable for your age
--set a reasonable playing period each time
--develop other interests, such as ball games or reading
--parents should pay attention to the changes of their children’s mood after the games, and
if they spot any addiction among their children, seek help from professionals
Reference material 5
“FVN”, short form of Fitness, Vitality and Nutrition, is a healthy family lifestyle
which is becoming popular in foreign countries.
F——Fitness refers to a 30-minute physical training by family
members. It includes (1) 5 minutes of warm up exercises such
as jogging and traction, (2) 20 minutes of basic exercises like
running, playing ball games, aerobics, skipping and taking a
walk etc. together with (3) a 5-minute preparation exercises
which consist mainly of dragging and easing up. When doing
such exercises, you must start from the light one to the heavy one
and do them three to five times a week on average. A varied exercising pattern is
highly recommended to keep up the interest and at the same time, improve bodily
functions, thus helping the doers to achieve a healthy body.
V——Vitality here refers to mental relaxation. Faced with the
vulnerability to illnesses associated with a fast-paced tense
working mode, we have to create a relaxing home environment
in which our body and soul can fully relax after a busy day at
work or at school. A vital lifestyle makes up of regular family
gatherings and sharing, outings, picnics, doing housework
together, organizing family games, minimizing the time for watching TV and
ensuring adequate sleep. By these activities which ensure the close connection
between family members, the tire and stress of work or study can be relieved, and
peace of mind, achieved.
N——Nutrition here means a diet based on the principle of
optimal carbohydrate, medium protein and low fat. This means
a
daily habit of eating more chicken, fish, soy products and milk,
which are rich in protein and less deep-fried food rich in fat. It
also means the intake of more fresh fruits, vegetables and food
with a lot of dietary fiber and less processed or salted food. With such a rich
nutrient intake in addition to the proportion of nutrients scientifically formulated,
the various needs of the body can be ideally catered for.
Source:
新型健康生活方式 FVN, China.com, 11th September, 2003.
http://health.china.com/zh_cn/hairdressing/ceremony/10001124/20030911/11538361.html
Websites for reference
American Journal of Health Promotion
http://www.healthpromotionjournal.com/
Hong Kong Sports Institute, Resources Centre, Sports Facts &
Figures
http://www.hksi.org.hk/hksdb/front/e_sff1.html
Hong Kong Bio Web
http://resources.emb.gov.hk/biology/english/
Activity 7
Every group lists out criteria for a healthy lifestyle and presents them to the class. Then the
opinions of all the groups should be summed up to form about 10 criteria for a healthy
lifestyle agreed by the whole class.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Activity 8
Form into groups and read the information below. Can the person in Source 1-3 fulfill the
criteria set out by “HKSAR Health Life Committee”? What suggestions can you and your
group members give to that person regarding his/her lifestyle? After discussion, please
present the conclusion of the discussion to the class.
Overall speaking, we think __________in Source _____ can/cannot fulfill the criteria
set out by “HKSAR Health Living Committee”.
Criteria which s/he can fulfill:
The following evidence can be found in the source:
Criteria which s/he cannot fulfill:
The following evidence can be found in the source:
We have the following suggestions for him/her regarding his/her lifestyle.
Source 1
Every morning when her mother woke her up to go to school,
Siu-tung would scream and cry hysterically. When Siu-tung
was in Form 3, she only attended classes for a month out of a
school year. She complained she was often picked on by her
classmates and the teachers. Whenever there were thefts reported in school, she was
always a suspect. ‘I am well-known in school for my misconducts - smoking, absent
from school without reason, failing to finish homework. My record is filled with a
number of demerits. I was always standing in the Staff Room to finish my
homework after school until 8 or 9 pm. It was much more painful than
imprisonment!’ Siu-tung then dropped out from school, which left her doing
nothing but eating and sleeping at home for over six months and became a
“Hikikomori” (people who do not have social contact with others). On the other
hand, her family members were also suffering. Siu-tung’s mother admitted that she
was upset by her daughter’s problem, ‘I feel hollowness inside. Sometimes there
was a pain in my chest without reason, and tears were shed unconsciously. I
doubted I had depression.’ Now she does not need to hurry Siu-tung to school every
morning, which seems to have eased their tension. However, she is sometimes at a
loss because of her daughter’s being emotionally unstable. Siu-tung is totally
self-centered and will sleep or eat whenever she likes. She sometimes sleeps for
nearly 20 hours. Our family has not gone out for dinner for a long time. I dare not
go out and leave her alone at home! Neither could I go out for breakfast with my
husband!’ said Siu-tung’s mother helplessly.
Source:
半年坐食瞓 隱蔽青年等待破繭, Atnext.com, 27th May, 2005
http://education.atnext.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Article.View&articleID=4928111
&issueID=20050527
Source 2
Schools, big-named shops and teens’ “chic-spots” (places where teens usually go to)
are now an arena (stage) for displaying the internationally fashionable handbags.
Handbags with reputable labels are commonly found in hands of teens, who just treat
them as ordinary schoolbags and make displacement from time to time, though each
costs more than $4,000. The popular saying “you’ve got cash, just buy it or use credit
card if you do not have money.” makes the teens, reputable as slaves for
merchandizes, to be the pathological shopaholic (addicted to shopping).
In fact, the teens have actually got stuck-up by leaving off everything. Thirst for
possession makes it hard for them to control their spending. They are willing to cut
their daily expenses or get into debt for a mere handbag. During summer holiday,
Ah-lun was working for a karaoke bar upon completion of his HKCE Exam. With
$6,500 as the monthly income plus free meals in the workplace, the 18-year-old teen
cut off all social activities, trying to save up every single dollar.
One month later, he spent all the money saved and
bought a handbag valued at around $6,000 which
almost equaled to his salary. “The handbag appealed
to me when I first saw it online, and I didn’t think
for long before I decided to buy it,” said Ah-Lun.
Paying a heavy cost for the handbag, however,
could hardly improve the self image of the buyer.
Yet Ah-Lun said with a great comfort, “I used up all
my money and I didn’t hang out with anybody after
work. So I got no chance to show off my new
handbag to my friends, but I like it anyways.”
“People may have suffered from pathological
buying if they spend their incomes on buying
big-named products. Shopaholic victims may try to
relieve their loneliness by shopping” said Pauline
Kwok Chi-ying, Supervisor of Caritas Family Crisis
Support Centre. When it goes out of control, the shoppers may face long-term debts,
or their homes may be flocked by merchandizes. Some may just enjoy the process of
shopping, but put aside those goods at home.
Source:
洗袋買一袋 捱餓愛名牌, Wen Wei Pao, Oct, 9th, 2006.
http://paper.wenweipo.com/2006/10/09/HK0610090005.htm
Source 3
Youths Online - Out of Control
Last Christmas, Mrs. Chan discovered that his son,
Keung, a S2 student, was addicted to the internet.
He played online games frequently and even
overnight. Mrs. Chan tried to stop him going
online, but her son got out of control and finally
she had to send him to hospital.
Now, Keung’s situation is getting better with the support of a social worker, but he is
still a bit weak in controlling his temper.
Another S4 internet-addict, Kit, is very bored at home. His parents come home from
work after 9pm every night; therefore he keeps chatting through the internet and
playing online games with his classmates everyday. He says, “In the game world,
your attack power becomes stronger when you reach a higher level. You can bully
others at anytime, and they could not resist.”
By and by, the more Kit is addicted to the computer games, the more he feels he is the
most powerful person in the game world. Everyday he keeps thinking of the things
happening in the game world and neglects his study. The relationship with his family
worsens over the years. Kit even stole his parents’ money last August, in order to pay
for “weapons” to reach a higher level.
Youths Online - Out of Control, Takungpao.com, 21st May, 2006.
http://www.takungpao.com/news/06/05/21/GW-568607.htm
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Activity 9:Homework – Self-reflection
According to Activity 3, in last week:
Was your sleeping time adequate? Was it too much? Or too little?
How often do you exercise each week (at least 20 minutes each time)?___________
Do you exercise regularly?___________
How do you arrange your time for studying and entertainment?
How do you arrange your break time and working time?
According to the “Criteria of a Healthy Lifestyle” designed by the whole class, which
standards have you met?
Which aspects need improvement?
Will you change your old lifestyle? Why?
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