The primary health care program for an ideal body image for children in primary school in Yuen Long

The problem of childhood obesity has become a global one today. Hong Kong (HK), like other developed countries, has seen a significant increase in this trend among children, which will threaten their health as well as create an enormous burden for our society. Furthermore, it is not only associated with physical problems but also psychosocial problems. Hence, to encourage children to build the concept of a healthy lifestyle and to learn how to keep a normal body weight are very important. This chapter is basic according to the principles of primary health care (PHC). It includes a literature review of the health problem of obesity from the international level to the local, assessment of the community of ten primary schools in Yuen Long (a district in northwest HK), action plan for the promotion program, the ways to implement the program in the community, evaluation methods, discussion and suggestions, and conclusion of the program. The objectives of this program are (a) to encourage children to build an exercise habit; (b) to get children to increase awareness of the importance of a healthy diet; and (c) to increase awareness of the importance of keeping a normal body mass index (BMI) among both children and their families. This program plans to run in three years. This program is mainly to let children obtain the knowledge via games and to encourage them to create an exercise habit in everyday life. The members of the key settings (school and home) influencing children's behavior are also included in this program. However, the participation rate of parents might be quite low since they need to earn their living and the home environment of children might not be given enough attention. Furthermore, three years is a much shorter time frame to get people to change their habits, particularly from unhealthy habits (convenient ones) to healthy habits (inconvenient ones). In all, this program is a light for further PHC programs in a similar area in the future.