Advertisement

44% of underprivileged Hongkongers forced to go hungry to save money, NGO says

  • Survey from Food Grace also finds 77 per cent of polled residents focus on price over nutritional value

Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
An NGO has urged authorities to strengthen food supplies and stabilise prices to help keep residents healthy. Photo: Sam Tsang
More than 40 per cent of underprivileged Hongkongers have been forced to go hungry to save money, while 77 per cent focus on price over nutritional value when they buy food, according to a poll by a local NGO.
Advertisement

Food Grace also found that close to half of surveyed residents were not getting enough nutrients in their daily diet, with high food prices cited as the main hurdle.

The food recycling group shared the results of its poll on Tuesday, which surveyed 509 residents in July and included those living on government welfare allowances, low-income households and people with disabilities in the Kwai Tsing and Sham Shui Po districts.

The NGO urged the city to offer more food assistance to those in need, to strengthen the supply and to keep prices stable.

“The survey has revealed the severity of food woes among families,” Angela Lo Kok-shan, the organisation’s project manager, said.

Advertisement

The results showed that 44 per cent of respondents had gone hungry to save money, while 32.8 per cent of those interviewed had cut down the number of meals they ate over the previous six months.

Advertisement