Background/Objectives: Childhood obesity is prevalent, and dietary habits are a key determinant. Some children skip breakfast for weight control, but studies have shown mixed results. Therefore, we assessed the association between breakfast skipping and body mass index (BMI) among young Chinese children in Hong Kong. Design/Subjects and Methods: A cohort of 113 457 primary 4 participants of the Department of Health Student Health Service in 1998-2000 was followed up for 2 years, with 68 606 (60.5%) participants available for analysis in primary 6. The sociodemographic characteristics for traced and untraced participants were similar. At baseline and follow-up, students reported breakfast habit (consumed vs skipped) and other lifestyle characteristics using a standardized questionnaire. BMI was derived using height and weight measured by trained nurses. Multivariable linear regression was used to examine the cross-sectional relationship between breakfast habit and BMI, as well as the prospective association between baseline breakfast habit and change in BMI. Models adjusted for demographic, socioeconomic and lifestyle characteristics. Results: A total of 1805 (5.3%) boys and 1793 (5.2%) girls skipped breakfast at baseline. In cross-sectional analyses, breakfast skippers had a higher mean BMI than did eaters among both primary 4 (b ¼ 0.77, 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 0.67-0.87) (Po0.001) and primary 6 children (b ¼ 0.86, 95% CI: 0.78-0.95) (Po0.001). Compared with eaters, baseline breakfast skippers experienced a greater increase in BMI in the subsequent 2 years (b ¼ 0.11, 95% CI: 0.07-0.16) (Po0.001), and this association was stronger among lunch skippers than eaters (P for interaction ¼ 0.04). Conclusion: Our study provided prospective evidence that skipping breakfast predicts a greater increase in BMI among Hong Kong children. As breakfast is a modifiable dietary habit, our results may have important implications for weight control. However, the underlying mechanism of this effect warrants further investigation

Breakfast skipping was significantly related to various health-compromising lifestyle characteristics and lower parental education. Breakfast habit can be a potential lifestyle indicator. Education programmes aimed at specific target groups should encourage regular breakfast consumption.

An inverted J-shaped relation was observed between TV viewing hours and self-esteem among young children. The development of self-esteem among children who report little or excessive TV viewing should be further studied.

ObjectiveHealth needs of different employee subgroups within an industry can differ. We report the results of a workplace cardiopulmonary risk assessment targeting workers and support staff in the construction industry.MethodsA free worksite-based cardiopulmonary risk assessment for 1,903 workers on infrastructural contracts across Hong Kong was initiated in May 2014. Cardiopulmonary risk screening was performed in 60-minute blocks for approximately 30 workers/block with individualized feedback and lifestyle counseling. Risk profiles stratified by occupational roles are differentiated using the χ2-test for categorical and Student’s t-test for continuous variables.ResultsMost construction workers and clerks/professionals were male (83.2% and 71.2%, respectively) and Chinese (78.7% and 90.9%, respectively). Construction workers were older (mean: 44.9 years, SD 11.5) and less well-educated (6.1% received tertiary education) than clerks/professionals (35.0 years, 10.7; 72.6% received tertiary education), but more likely to be hypertensive (22.6% vs. 15.4%, p<0.001), overweight/obese (71.7% vs. 56.6%, p<0.001), centrally obese (53.1% vs. 35.5%, p<0.001), and have undesirable levels of high-density lipoprotein (41.6% vs. 35.8%, p<0.05) and diabetic levels of non-fasting blood glucose (4.3% vs. 1.6%, p<0.05). Up to 12.6% of construction workers and 9.7% of office clerks/professions had three or more metabolic syndrome risk factors. While construction workers were more likely than clerks/professionals to be daily smokers, they reported better work-related physical activity and diet.ConclusionsSimple worksite health risk screening can identify potentially high-cardiopulmonary-risk construction industry employee subgroups for onward confirmatory referral. Separate cardiopulmonary health promotion strategies that account for the varying lifestyle profiles of the two employee subgroups in the industry appear justified.

Introduction and AimsParental alcohol-related practices are important risk factors of adolescent drinking, but little is known about the factors associated with these parental pro-drinking practices (PPDPs). We investigated the correlates of 9 PPDPs in drinking parents of adolescents in Hong Kong.MethodsA total of 2200 students (age 14.8±2.0; boys 63.2%) participated in a school-based cross-sectional survey in 2012. Analysis was restricted to 1087 (61.8%) students with at least 1 drinking parent as PPDPs were much more common in these families. Logistic regression was used to identify correlates of each PPDP.ResultsAmong 1087 students, the prevalence of PPDPs ranged from 8.2% for training drinking capacity to 65.7% for seeing parents drink. Only 14.8% of students had not experienced any of these practices. More frequent maternal drinking predicted parental training of drinking capacity. Older age predicted helping parents buy alcohol and parental encouragement of drinking. Adolescent girls were more likely to have received parental training of drinking capacity than boys. Higher perceived family affluence was associated with hearing parents saying benefits of drinking, and helping parents open bottle and pour alcohol.ConclusionsPPDPs were associated with parental drinking frequency and various socio-demographic factors. These results have implications on alcohol control programmes involving parents to tailor messages for reducing PPDPs based on the characteristics of adolescents and parents.

The prevalence of PPDPs was generally low in non-drinking parents, but increased dramatically with the number of drinking parents and the frequency of paternal drinking.

OBJECTIVE: An association between weight gain and breakfast skipping has been reported, but breakfast location was rarely considered. We investigated the prospective associations between breakfast location, breakfast skipping and body mass index (BMI) change in a large cohort of Chinese children. DESIGN: Our baseline cohort consisted of 113 457 primary 4 (US grade 4) participants of the Hong Kong Department of Health Student Health Service in 1998 --2000. Of these, 68 606 (60.5%) had complete records and were successfully followed-up 2 years later. Data on breakfast consumption and location were collected at both time points along with other lifestyle characteristics. BMI was derived from objectively measured height and weight. Associations between breakfast habits and BMI change were assessed by multivariable linear regression, adjusting for demographic, socioeconomic and lifestyle characteristics. RESULTS: At baseline, 85.3, 9.4 and 5.2% of children had breakfast at home, away from home and skipped breakfast, respectively. Prospectively, having breakfast away from home (vs at home) predicted a greater BMI increase over two years (b ¼ 0.15; 95% CI: 0.11 --0.18). Breakfast skipping had a comparable, slightly smaller effect (0.13; 0.09 --0.18). CONCLUSION: Both breakfast skipping and eating breakfast away from home predict greater increases in BMI during childhood, the effect being slightly stronger in the latter. Having breakfast, particularly at home, could have important implications for weight management and reducing obesity in children. Further research is required to gain insight into potential underlying mechanisms.

ObjectivesTo investigate the association between parental pro-drinking practices (PPDPs) and alcohol drinking in Hong Kong Chinese adolescents.DesignA cross-sectional study.Setting4 randomly selected secondary schools in Hong Kong.Participants1738 students (mean age 14.6 years ±2.0, boys 67.8%).Main outcome measuresDrinking status, drinking intention and exposure to 9 PPDPs (eg, seeing parents drunk, helping parents buy alcohol, encouraged to drink by parents) were reported by students. Logistic regression was used to compute adjusted ORs (AORs) of drinking and intention to drink by each PPDP and the number of PPDPs (0, 1–2, 3–4, 5 or above), adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, parental drinking and school clustering.ResultsNearly half (48.6%) of the students were ever-drinkers, 16.2% drank monthly (at least once per month) and 40.3% intended to drink in the next 12 months. Most PPDPs were significantly associated with ever drinking (AORs 1.40–6.20), monthly drinking (AORs 1.12–8.20) and intention to drink (AORs 1.40–5.02). Both ever and monthly drinking were most strongly associated with parental training of drinking capacity (ability to drink more without getting drunk) with AORs of 6.20 and 8.20 (both p<0.001), respectively. Adolescent drinking intention was most strongly associated with parental encouragement of drinking and training of drinking capacity with AORs of 3.19 and 5.02 (both p<0.001), respectively.ConclusionsExposure to PPDPs was associated with ever drinking, monthly drinking and drinking intention in Hong Kong Chinese adolescents. More studies, especially prospective studies, should be conducted to confirm these results, followed by interventional studies.