Survey reveals students’ poor nutrition and physical activity

Some secondary school students in Macau do not get adequate exercise and overindulge in sugary beverages, according to a survey recently conducted by the General Association of Chinese Students-Macau and the Macau Youth Research Association.
Designed to collect information about Macau secondary school students’ daily habits, the survey was answered by 1,135 students, 1,055 of whom returned valid questionnaires to the associations.
The survey focused on two areas: nutrition and physical activity.
Approximately half of the students said that they eat breakfast six or seven days per week, a quarter said that they eat breakfast four to five days per week, while the rest said that they have less than three breakfasts per week.
Nearly 70% of the respondents eat snacks one to four times per week, whereas one tenth of students claimed to never snack.
In regard to beverage consumption, 40% reported consuming sugary beverages (including soda water, coffee, juice, energy drinks) more than four times a week, while 10% report no consumption of these drinks within a week.
The survey identified that the secondary school students do not partake in physical activity inside or outside of school. The respondents explained that they are too busy with schoolwork, don’t have time, lack a companion with whom to exercise, or simply don’t want to exercise.
Results demonstrated that 35% of the respondents regarded physical education classes in school to be too short.
On a weekly basis, 30% of the students never exercise outside of the school curriculum.
Only one in 10 respondents go to bed before 10 p.m., while 32% of respondents go to bed after midnight. Only 20% of students sleep more than eight hours a day.
Given that electronic devices are increasingly integrated within our lives – especially in this region, where the local education authority continues to promote using online sources for school teaching and learning – the results found that 45% of respondents are engaged with electronic devices for more than four hours a day during school hours.
Outside of school, 30% students use electronic devices for non-school related activities for a further four hours.