9,240 primary, secondary students plotted suicide in 2023

An alarming 2.8 percent or 9,240 primary and secondary students had plotted to end their lives last year, the Department of Health has found.

In an annual report on health assessment services for students, the department found that around 2.8 percent of the total 233,000 primary students and 97,000 secondary students attending the Student Health Service Centres were planning to commit suicide, while another 1.3 percent of them had even attempted self-harm.

A higher percentage was also recorded among secondary students, with 3.7 percent, or nearly 3,600, among the 97,000 students attending the department's health service were contemplating suicide, while another 1.6 percent had attempted to.

Lawmaker Lillian Kwok Ling-la of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong expressed concern over the situation and said: "Academic pressure is the main source of stress for students."

"It is understandable that parents have high expectations for their children and hope for their success, but be wary of excessive amounts of pressure," Kwok said.

"Parents should take care of children's physical and mental well-being," she said, adding parents and teachers should encourage students by listening to their problems.

The Department of Health said its Adolescent Health Program team visited 279 secondary schools last academic year. They deployed outreach activities to promote students' physical, mental, and social well-being, helping them develop essential life skills and resilience.

The government has also set up a 24-hour mental health support hotline at 18111, to provide immediate help and referral services together with a three-tier school-based emergency mechanism implemented to identify and support high-risk students promptly.

The assessment also revealed a deterioration of students' vision in recent years, especially among lower-grade primary students, according to the Department of Health.

The percentage of primary one pupils who wore corrective lenses remained stable at 15 percent. The overall percentage of primary and secondary school students who required a referral to the optometry service for further visual assessment, including those who failed the preliminary visual acuity test, dipped 3.7 percent, to 13 percent last year.

The data showed that the overweight rate, including obesity, remained elevated last year. It dropped slightly to 19.5 percent and 20.5 percent in the past 12 months among primary and secondary school students respectively.

Class suspension and online classes reduced outdoor physical activity and heightened screen time adding to a higher risk of becoming overweight, obese, and with deteriorated vision during the epidemic, said the department.

The health service suggests students to exercise at moderate-to-vigorous intensity for at least one hour every day and maintain a healthy balanced diet, to prevent childhood and adolescent obesity from developing into a lifelong threat.

Dietitians at the assessment centers will provide customized dietary advice to students upon referral.