SCMP Thursday, June 21, 2001

Many SAR men are overweight, overworked
PATSY MOY
Nearly half of Hong Kong men work long hours and many are overweight or even obese, a survey has found.
Almost 44 per cent of more than 1,500 men questioned by researchers for the Family Planning Association worked at least 10 hours a day.
More than 40 per cent were either overweight or obese, 40 per cent did not exercise regularly, 38 per cent smoked and 36.5 per cent drank alcohol.
University of Hong Kong community medicine professor, Lam Tai-hing, warned men to change their bad habits and in particular avoid overwork.
"Reasonable work hours should be around 40 per week, or about eight a day. Overwork will undermine the general health of the population. The community will have to pay a big cost [in health care] if the phenomenon continues," said Professor Lam.
The survey, of men aged between 26 and 70, also found that 6.6 per cent admitted visiting a prostitute in the past six months, while 5.6 per cent refused to answer the question.
Dr Andrew Yip Wai-chun, chairman of the association's working group on male sexual and reproductive health, believed those who refused to answer had probably visited prostitutes but were embarrassed to say.
The findings showed 60 per cent had only one partner in the past six months and 12.6 per cent did not have sex. Nearly six per cent did not know how many partners they had had. Only 26.4 per cent said they used condoms every time they had sex.
The association will launch Hong Kong's first men's clinic on June 28. It will promote disease prevention and screen and treat common sex problems.