Hong Kong study finds lifestyle coaching helps residents lower blood pressure

Around half of Hongkongers with pre-hypertension who joined a personalised healthy lifestyle coaching programme have seen their blood pressure return to normal after six months, a local university has found.

The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) on Tuesday released the findings of a study focused on its Jockey Club We WATCH Healthy Lifestyle Project, which targets middle-aged people to help them prevent chronic diseases.

The study, conducted from 2022 to 2025, covered 4,399 participants aged between 35 and 59, who were at high risk of developing chronic diseases.

It also found that 51 per cent of participants with borderline or high blood lipids had achieved normal lipid levels, while 48 per cent of those with pre-diabetes had their blood glucose restored to healthy levels.

Professor Samuel Wong Yeung-shan, director of the university’s School of Public Health and Primary Care, said the findings showed significant improvements in the biometric parameters among participants with higher-risk conditions.

“Instead of saying you are obese, you need to change, we say, what do you want to change and how do the changes affect and facilitate your life goals?” he said, noting that the project eschewed “traditional, conventional medicine where you have a more didactic and paternalistic approach”.