According to the Nutrient Testing of School Lunches in Primary Schools in Hong Kong 2013 conducted by the Department of Health (DH), we revealed that the sodium content in over 90% of the examined lunches exceeded the recommended intake for a meal. Excessive intake of sodium could lead to hypertension, which is a major cause of cardiovascular diseases and stroke. On the other hand, according to the World Health Organization, decreasing dietary intake of salt to 5g per day in adults would reduce the risk of stroke by 23% and that of cardiovascular diseases by 17%.
In view of the above, DH officially launched the "Salt Reduction Scheme for School Lunches" (the Scheme) in the 2017/18 school year. It is hoped that the Scheme will gradually lower the sodium level of schools lunches with a recommended average reduction of 5 to 10 percent each year. The target of reduced average sodium level of each primary school lunch box is not to exceed 500mg in ten years. DH will regularly review the recipes of such school lunches for assessing the sodium level and amount of sodium reduction, and update the Database of participating lunch suppliers every month.
Schools are encouraged to monitor school lunches with reference to the "Nutritional Guidelines on Lunch for Students", while parents can help by using less sodium-containing seasonings in their diet at home, thus creating all-round efforts in reducing students' sodium intake and building a solid foundation for their long-term health.
Lunch suppliers who are interested to join the Scheme may submit the completed application form to the DH for follow up actions.
2018 Press Release
2017 Press Release
|
|
