Feature Articles

The Family Planning Association of Hong Kong’s Women’s Clubs celebrated “International Women’s Day” on 8 March with a Hi-Calcium Recipes Competition.

The program was one of the highlights of the Bone Health Educational Campaign jointly organized by the FPAHK Women’s Clubs and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The Campaign aims to increase awareness of bone health, particularly amongst menopause women; and to promote a healthier life style with a calcium-rich diet and regular weight bearing exercises.

The Campaign was kicked-off by a series of nutrition talks from October to December 2005, highlighting the importance of a balanced diet with sufficient intake of calcium and vitamin D. These were followed by the Hi-Calcium Recipes Competition to encourage Women’s Clubs members to make use of the knowledge they learned to create their own favorite hi-calcium recipes. The Competition attracted over 70 entries in three categories, namely soups, main courses and desserts. 23 were selected for the Final Round of the Competition on 8 March. The panel of 3 adjudicators comprised of Mrs Lina Lo, the Association’s Vice-Chairman, a dietitian, and a celebrity gourmet. The contestants prepared and presented the dishes from their recipes, also sharing their stories behind the creation of the dishes.

The event attracted wide media coverage by 12 major local newspapers. The winning dishes were greatly complimented and the all the participants were jubilant at the success of the Competition. The Association plans to compile these creative home recipes into a cookbook for publication.