An overview of health fitness studies of Hong Kong residents from 2005 to 2011

The purpose of the present paper was to provide a review of the health fitness studies conducted among Hong Kong residents for the past 7 years (2005-2011) and a better understanding of the historical developments, future trends, and research studies on this topic conducted during the past 27 years. In the 164 articles reviewed, the present paper covers six major areas: obesity, physical fitness, cardiovascular risk factors, physical activity, lifestyle, and growth and development. It was found that the quality of life of the local residents and the physical fitness levels of cohorts of all ages were declining-more than 60% of the population did not exercise even for 30 minute/week or walk 8000 steps a day. Various interventions had been conducted, but their findings were not encouraging. In 2011, the prevalence of obesity reached 20% for the youth and 22% for the entire population. A review of the studies on lifestyle revealed that some researchers were adopting a multifactorial and multibehavioral approach to better understand and modify the lifestyle management. It is encouraging to note the increase in both the quantity and the quality of researches conducted during the past 27 years in Hong Kong, as reflected by over 270 international refereed publications.