Maggie Lau

Prevalence and correlates of problem behaviors among adolescents in Hong Kong.

The aims of this study were to examine the frequency and correlates of problem behaviors among Hong Kong adolescents. It is a cross-sectional survey targeting secondary forms 1 to 3 (equivalent to grades 7-9 in the United States) students (N = 1029). A self-administered questionnaire was used as the measurement tool. The study found that there are intercorrelations of problem behaviors in adolescence, such as tobacco use, alcohol use, drug abuse, and having connections with triad society. Given the intercorrelations among problem behaviors, identification of a single type of problem behavior in adolescents can help discover the likelihood of the occurrence of other problem behaviors. It can facilitate identification and intervention at an early stage. The results provide some insights for the concerned authorities to develop a syndrome approach addressing problem behaviors.

Comparing alcohol affordability in 65 cities worldwide.

INTRODUCTION AND AIMS To develop a measure of alcohol affordability (AA) and compare the AA of 65 cities worldwide. DESIGN AND METHODS In this paper, AA is defined as the proportion of median daily income needed to buy a certain quantity of certain alcoholic beverages. The income data and the price of alcoholic beverages were drawn from the Union Bank of Switzerland survey and the Economist Intelligence Unit respectively. RESULTS A large majority of cities (87.7%, n = 57) had a high level of AA. The top 20 ranking was occupied by European and American cities with Tokyo in the Western Pacific region being the exception. All cities belonging to high-income countries had high levels of AA. However, two cities with low-level AA came from low-middle-income countries instead of low-income countries. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS The findings have shown that alcohol consumption is highly affordable in many cities. If price policy is being considered as policy instrument of alcohol control, it is in urgent need of price adjustments. More specifically, the new emerging economies play a significant role in the world alcohol control movement because of their bright economic performance with huge population size. Further studies on AA, especially periodical monitoring and its impacts on alcohol consumption and alcohol related health problems, should be conducted so as to facilitate the formulation and evaluation price measure of alcohol control.

Increased Risk of Cigarette Smoking Among Immigrant Children and Girls in Hong Kong: An Emerging Public Health Issue

Despite global progress in tobacco control, data are needed for subgroups with increased risk of tobacco use for more effective smoking prevention. Survey data from a random sample of 6,486 youth in grades 7, 8 and 9 were derived from the project Chinese Student Health Survey. Prevalence and hazards of smoking onset were compared by gender and immigrant status. Mediation analysis was used to assess factors that may mediate the impact of immigrant status on smoking. Immigrant students had a much higher risk of hazards of smoking initiation than non-immigrant students. Parental monitoring and parental smoking significantly mediated the effect of immigrant status on early smoking onset. In addition, gender differences in the prevalence of smoking and hazards of smoking onset in our study were smaller than those reported by others targeting non-Hong Kong Chinese youth. Findings of this study imply that immigrant children and girls in Hong Kong are at increased risk to tobacco use. Special attention should be paid to these subgroups for prevention intervention. Prevention intervention for immigrant children should address parental smoking and parental monitoring. Reduced gender difference in smoking among Hong Kong youth suggests an emerging trend for more Chinese girls on the Mainland to smoke along with the rapid socioeconomic development.

The quest for sustainable livelihoods : social development challenges and social policy responses in Guangzhou, China

Chinas welfare system has been a typical ‘residual welfare regime’, but the economic reform and market-oriented transformations in recent decades have weakened the original well-balanced ‘residual’ and ‘needs’ pattern. Marketisation of social welfare has intensified social inequality as those who are less competitive in the market-oriented economy have encountered tremendous financial burdens in meeting their welfare needs. In order to rectify the social problems and tensions generated from the process of marketisation of social welfare, the Chinese government has adopted different policy measures to address the pressing welfare demands from the citizens. This article examines how a local government in Guangzhou, capital city of Guangdong province, has responded to the call of the central government in promoting social harmony in the context of growing welfare regionalism emerging in mainland China. More specifically, with reference to a case study of Guangzhou, this article discusses how Guangzhou residents assess their social welfare needs and expectations, and how they evaluate the municipal governments major welfare strategies. It also reflects upon the role of the state in welfare provision and social protection, especially when many social welfare and social services have been marketised in the last few decades in China.

Minor access control of Hong Kong under the framework convention on tobacco control

BACKGROUND Asias tobacco control movement was strengthened owing to the need to fulfill the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). OBJECTIVE The present study aims to assess the compliance rates of tobacco retailers to the law forbidding the sales of tobacco to minors in Hong Kong before and after the growth of the tobacco control movement brought by the enactment of the newly amended tobacco control law with effect from 2007. The legislation was enacted to fulfill the FCTC. DESIGN AND METHOD Two waves of territory-wide compliance checks conducted in 2006 and 2008 were compared. The compliance check was conducted using Standard Protocol. RESULT The overall compliance rate was still low though it increased from 18.9% in 2006 to 27.0% in 2008. The compliance rate of convenience stores and newspaper stands improved whereas the rate for restaurants, grocery stores and petrol stations worsened. Less tobacco retailing outlets displayed a specified warning sign required in 2008 (33.7%) comparing to 2006 (41.4%). CONCLUSION The indoor smoking ban of the FCTC unintentionally changed the cigarette retailing landscape and finally improved the compliance rate. The case study also demonstrated that the Asia region still has much room for improvement in fulfilling the FCTC in term of effective implementation and enforcement.

Deprivation is associated with worse physical and mental health beyond income poverty: a population-based household survey among Chinese adults

PurposeIn studying health inequality, poverty as measured by income is frequently used; however, this omits the aspects of non-monetary resources and social barriers to achieving improved living standard. Therefore, our study aimed to examine the associations of individual-level deprivation of material and social necessities with general physical and mental health beyond that of income poverty.MethodsA territory-wide two-stage stratified random sample of 2282 community-dwelling Hong Kong adults was surveyed between 2014 and 2015. Income poverty and a Deprivation Index were used as the main independent variables. General health was assessed using the validated 12-item Short-Form Health Survey version 2, from which physical component summary and mental component summary were derived.ResultsOur results in multivariable ordinal logistic regressions consistently showed that, after adjusting for income poverty, socio-demographic and lifestyle factors, being deprived was significantly associated with worse physical (OR 1.66; CI 1.25–2.20) and mental health (OR 1.83; CI 1.43–2.35). Being income poor was also significantly associated with worse mental health (OR 1.63; CI 1.28–2.09) but only marginally with physical health (OR 1.34; CI 1.00–1.80) after adjustments.ConclusionsIncome does not capture all aspects of poverty that are associated with adverse health outcomes. Deprivation of non-monetary resources has an independent effect on general health above and beyond the effect of income poverty. Policies should move beyond endowment and take into account the multidimensionality of poverty, in order to address the problem of health inequality.

Defamilisation measures and women's labour force participation – a comparative study of twelve countries

This paper examines the relevance of two interpretations of defamilisation (“freedom of the family” and “freedom of women from the family”) to the search for effective measures for strengthening womens participation in the paid labour market. Based on these two interpretations, two types of defamilisation measures (care-focused and womens economic) are identified. Two defamilisation indices are developed respectively covering twelve countries. The importance of the two types of defamilisation measures in assisting women to access employment are discussed from two angles. The input angle refers to the extent to which countries are committed to the provision of these defamilisation measures. The output angle is about the relationship between these defamilisation measures and the degree of womens participation in the paid labour market. Through conducting these analytical tasks, this paper also contributes to the examination of the relationship between types of welfare regimes and the provision of defamilisation measures.

A globalizing economy, sustainable livelihoods and equality of opportunities: the case of Hong Kong

This article uses the concepts of sustainable livelihoods and equality of opportunities to frame the analysis of effects of unprecedented scale of globalization and the financial and economic crises on the labour market, with severe consequences for those low-skilled workers and their dependent children in Hong Kong. Dramatic economic restructuring and social transformation have radically challenged the established structure of the welfare regime in Hong Kong. Like other East Asian economies significantly affected in the globalization era and in the midst of economic crises, Hong Kong can no longer guarantee high economic growth and low unemployment. Economic restructuring and social transformation have brought significant changes in post-industrial society. New social risks arising from increasing global and complex societies and a breakdown of traditional and informal risk-sharing mechanisms bring enormous difficulties for certain social groups. New social risks have engendered a growing demand for public services while there are only limited resources meeting the growing needs. It is widely recognized that global processes of economic change have significantly shaped national economic and social policies. Economic competitiveness gives national governments impetus to adopt a welfare pluralist approach and thus further exacerbates unequal access to public services. These policy reforms may further widen the gaps between the haves and the have-nots and contribute to a divided society. In a changing and globalizing economy of Hong Kong, the extent to which welfare restructuring attains productive employment and sustainable livelihoods and ensures equal opportunities for peoples future development is the current focus of debate.

The independent role of deprivation in abdominal obesity beyond income poverty. A population-based household survey in Chinese adults

Background Individual-level deprivation takes into account the non-monetary aspects of poverty that neither income poverty nor socio-economic factors could fully capture; however, it has rarely been considered in existing studies on social inequality in obesity. Therefore, we examined the associations of deprivation, beyond income poverty, with both general and abdominal obesity. Methods A territory-wide two-stage stratified random sample of 2282 community-dwelling Hong Kong adults was surveyed via face-to-face household interviews between 2014 and 2015. Deprivation was assessed by a Deprivation Index specific to the Hong Kong population. General obesity was defined as body mass index (BMI) ≥ 25 kg/m2, while abdominal obesity was defined as waist circumference (WC) ≥ 90 cm/80 cm for male/female. Multivariable binary logistic regressions were performed. Results Deprivation was independently associated with abdominal obesity (odds ratios (OR) = 1.68; 95% confidence intervals (CI): 1.27-2.22); however, no significant association was found with general obesity (OR=1.03; CI: 0.77-1.38). After additional adjustment for BMI, deprivation remained strongly associated with abdominal obesity (OR=2.00; CI: 1.41-2.83); and after further adjustment for WC, deprivation had a marginal inverse association with general obesity (OR=0.72; CI: 0.51-1.01). Conclusions Deprivation is an important risk factor of abdominal obesity and plays a critical role in capturing the preferential abdominal fat deposition beyond income poverty.

Book Review: Chak Kwan CHAN, King Lun NGOK, and David PHILLIPS, eds, Social Policy in China: Development and Well-Being. Bristol:The Policy Press, 2008. 248 pp. ISBN: 978-1861348807. Price: £22.99

Supervision over the police has been insufficient to curb abuses of power, and so far the emergence of a legal field has not resulted in a limitation of police powers. But the existence of a deep contradiction between administrative detention and law as a basis for governance has been brought to light, and it cannot be ignored anymore. Over the long term we may expect some deep, structural changes of these powers to take place. Minor shortcomings of this book lie in underplaying the role of Commissions for Discipline Inspection as an agent of supervision, and in overlooking some changes in their operations and structure. Also the reader is left with the impression that some of the detention powers described in the book are a product of the People’s Republic. Use of coercive drug rehabilitationwas proposed at the end of the Qing dynasty, before being “revived” in Republican China. Although different factors were at play back then, police powers were subjected to little constraint andwereabused. Perhaps the examinationof thesehistorical continuities would have been helpful to point out how pre-1949 factors contributed in part to the structuringof the emerging legal field. Finally, rather thana contradiction, the presence of “elements of formality and informality” (p. 51) could be seen as a feature of the Chinese legal system itself. Informal elements could either slowly enter the legal field, or could exist outside of it, in Agambenian zones of exceptions.These considerations apart, this 484-pagemasterpiece leaves the reader in awe. It was not only time but also firm resolution that were required in massive doses to obtain the documentary sources on which this work is based. Besides, almost no otherwork on detention in China has reached the same level of scholarly and intellectual rigor. This book has made an enduring contribution to our knowledge of one of themost important, yet least known sectors of Chinese law. This is essential reading for scholars of Chinese law, contemporary China, NGO personnel, teachers, and sociologists of law. FLORA SAPIO, Contemporary China, Turin, Italy