Working Paper Series

Abstract: The “EatSmart@restaurant.hk” Campaign has been launched since 2007 in order to cultivate a healthy eating habit in Hong Kong. EatSmart restaurants provide customers with the healthier dishes, containing more vegetables and less oil, salt and sugar. This Campaign is a good way to encourage citizens to eat healthily and fit into their eating out culture. There are some deficiencies in its promotion, namely the sustainability of the Campaign. The supervision of EatSmart restaurants is not enough and can hardly guarantee the quality of healthier dishes. Moreover, it cannot attract restaurants to join due to the lack of incentives. The contents of promotion materials are also unclear. Although the Campaign has been implemented for around 9 years, the obesity rate is still increasing slightly. The majority of people consume inadequate daily fruits and vegetables intake even nowadays. Besides, there are very few restaurants participating in it. As a result, the effectiveness of the Campaign seems to be doubtful. As such, it is necessary to improve the Campaign. The Government plays the crucial role in this health promotional initiative, not only in its sustainably, but also provides a supporting policy, such as incentives to participate and regular checking of the EatSmart restaurants.