Hong Kong schoolchildren’s health is alarming. How can schools leverage AI to tackle it without adding workload?

However, the situation appears to be worsening; findings from the Student Health Service Annual Health Report (2024/25 School Year), published by the Department of Health on March 17, 2026, indicate that:

• A whopping 93.6% of students failed to meet the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines of engaging in at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity daily.

• The rate of overweight and obesity among students has climbed to 17.5% and shows an upward trend year by year.

Meanwhile, a survey report released by the Faculty of Medicine at The Chinese University of Hong Kong reveals that 24.4% of local students have suffered from at least one mental health condition (such as anxiety or depression) over the past year, with secondary school students facing particularly severe academic and social pressures.

The Relationship Between Mental Health Issues and Physical Fitness Levels Among School-Aged Children

In fact, the global medical and psychiatric communities have conducted numerous large-scale longitudinal studies confirming a direct and inextricable causal link between students’ physical health indicators—such as cardiorespiratory endurance, obesity levels, and sedentary time—and their mental health, including anxiety, depression, and stress-coping abilities.

1. Swedish Study: Adolescent Cardiorespiratory Fitness Predicts Risk of Depression in Adulthood

A large-scale, long-term longitudinal study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine and related psychiatric journals analyzed health data from over one million adolescents. The study found that:

• Poor cardiorespiratory fitness during adolescence (ages 15–19) is associated with a nearly 40% higher risk of developing major depressive disorder (MDD) and anxiety disorders in adulthood compared to peers.

• Therefore, improving schoolchildren’s cardiorespiratory endurance does more than just build physical fitness; it boosts immunity and reduces the risk of developing mental illnesses, such as severe depression, in adulthood.

Source：https://www.cambridge.org/

2. The Lancet Psychiatry: Objectively measured “sedentary behavior” directly causes depression in adolescents.

A clinical study published in *The Lancet Psychiatry* objectively recorded the daily activity intensity of thousands of students, tracked them until the age of 18, and assessed their depression symptom scores; the study found that:

• At ages 12, 14, and 16, each additional hour of daily sedentary time (such as screen time or doing homework) was associated with an 8% to 11% increase in depression scores at age 18.

• Conversely, within the same age group, just 15 minutes of additional moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per day is associated with an approximately 9% reduction in depression symptom scores by age 18.

Source：https://www.thelancet.com/

Ways to Address the Physical and Mental Health Issues of School-Age Children

An academic study on Hong Kong Chinese adolescents (Physical activity improves mental health through resilience in Hong Kong Chinese adolescents) indicates a strong positive correlation (r = 0.66, p< < 0.001) between students' physical activity levels and their mental well-being.

While exercise does not directly eliminate academic stress, it effectively builds strong resilience that serves a protective function (resilience accounts for nearly 60% of the mediating effect through which exercise translates into mental health benefits).

Regular engagement in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) trains the brain to cope with physiological stress, enabling students to demonstrate greater emotional resilience and adaptability when facing academic setbacks.

“Moderate-to-vigorous intensity” refers to exercise where your heart rate increases significantly, you sweat, and you breathe somewhat heavily but can still speak (moderate intensity), or where you exercise to the point where you cannot speak in full sentences (vigorous intensity).

Given the significant benefits of MVPA for schoolchildren, the Education Bureau of Hong Kong has vigorously promoted “MVPA60” in recent years, encouraging students to accumulate at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity daily and establishing this as a key indicator for the development of school physical education.

However, this placed yet another heavy burden on the shoulders of the P.E. teachers:

“We all know that exercise is good for students, but 60 minutes a day cannot be achieved by just two physical education classes per week. If home exercise homework is given, how can the teacher verify the authenticity of the data? Do they have to check hundreds of handwritten records every day, or manually enter thousands of Excel data at the end of the semester?”

This is precisely why the school needs FlexMSK.

How does FlexMSK help schools easily implement MVPA60?

Developed by RaphAI Health Technologies, the FlexMSK AI system helps schools easily implement MVPA60 activities, streamlining the process of managing physical education homework and data handling into three simple steps:

Step 1: The teacher assigns “MVPA homework.”

The PE teacher can log in to the FlexMSK management backend to assign sports-related tasks to different classes.

• The system comes pre-loaded with 12 videos demonstrating moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) movements recommended by the Education Bureau (such as jumping jacks, high knees, and squats).

• Teachers can assign tasks simply by selecting exercises, setting the number of sets, and specifying a deadline—without needing to record demonstration videos or write out instructions themselves.

Step 2: AI monitors and records progress automatically

Upon returning home, students do not need to wear any fitness trackers or sensor; they simply log in to their dedicated FlexMSK account using a standard smartphone or tablet to start exercising, with their progress recorded automatically.

• Prop your phone against the wall so that the front-facing camera captures your full body.

• Open FlexMSK, and its exclusive AI clinical-grade bone sensing technology outlines the student’s skeletal joint points on the screen in real time.

• If a student’s movements lack proper form during exercise, the AI ​​system automatically detects this and provides real-time prompts—such as “Please raise your arms a little higher”—while excluding incorrect repetitions from the count, thereby ensuring the authenticity and efficiency of the workout.

Step 3: Export reports for the Education Bureau with a single click—no more manual work.

This is the feature most popular among PE teachers! All student exercise data—including movement accuracy, completion counts, and self-reported exercise duration—syncs to the system backend in real time, eliminating the need for teachers to manually enter the information.

• Student Performance Dashboard: Teachers can access FlexMSK to monitor all students’ movement data; there is no need to watch every video, as they can instantly identify students who require attention.
• One-click report generation: At the end of the term, teachers can simply export reports in the format required by the Education Bureau directly from the backend, eliminating the tedious task of manual report preparation.

“Our students really enjoy doing home-based exercises on the FlexMSK platform, and as a result, they have developed healthy lifestyle habits. At the same time, FlexMSK enables us to implement the MVPA60 program easily and effectively!”

— Mrs Miranda Iu, Principal, St. Paul’s Convent School

Why is FlexMSK effective in improving schoolchildren’s health?

According to the latest research findings released on July 14, 2026, by Dr. Chow Chi-ching, Associate Professor in the Department of Health and Physical Education at The Education University of Hong Kong, combining the provision of home-based exercise videos with parental support strategies significantly increases the time school-aged children spend on moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA)—leading to tangible improvements in their physical fitness.

FlexMSK is ideally equipped to effectively encourage school-aged children to engage in MVPA at home:

1. Built-in MVAP exercise videos

Research by EdUHK demonstrates that providing home-based exercise instructional videos—such as those included in FlexMSK—along with options, specific feedback, and positive reinforcement, effectively improves schoolchildren’s physical fitness in the short term; specifically, time spent on moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) increased significantly by 6 to 7 minutes (rising from an initial 34.6 minutes to 41–42 minutes). In contrast, without such guidance and support, daily exercise time dropped significantly by 14 minutes. These findings confirm that “home-based exercise interventions” are an effective strategy for addressing the widespread issue of sedentary behavior.

Advantages of FlexMSK: FlexMSK not only provides demonstration videos, but also uses clinical-grade AI skeletal sensing technology to track 21+ skeletal joint points throughout the student’s body in real time. The AI ​​system will conduct “anti-cheating counting” to ensure that the range and intensity of each movement of the students meet the standards, ensuring that every home exercise is “real exercise and really effective.”

2. Fully satisfy students’ three basic psychological needs.

Research by EdUHK highlights that relying solely on external pressure or controlling methods—such as parental directives—yields only temporary behavioral changes. To foster long-term exercise habits among students, three basic psychological needs must be met: autonomy, competence, and relatedness.

FlexMSK is designed to fit perfectly with this educational psychology framework:

Provide choices and support a sense of autonomy

On the FlexMSK platform, students can not only decide for themselves when to engage in home-based exercise but also log their favorite outdoor activities (such as hiking, hill walking, basketball, and school team training). This flexibility—offering a choice—stimulates students’ intrinsic motivation, fostering the sense that “exercise is a healthy lifestyle choice I have made myself” rather than a mandatory assignment they are forced to complete.

Provide precise feedback, acknowledge effort, and build a sense of competence.

Dr. Chow Chi-ching from EdUHK notes that providing specific feedback and acknowledging effort can significantly help children sustain their motivation to exercise. FlexMSK features a built-in AI virtual coach that offers real-time audio and visual feedback while students exercise. The system immediately offers praise (such as “Perfect!”) when form is correct, and provides gentle, specific guidance when movements fall short of the standard. This combination of “instant feedback and challenge” mirrors the experience of motion-sensing games, allowing students to build a sense of achievement and competence with every step of progress.

Enhancing the sense of belonging through interaction

FlexMSK automatically organizes students’ exercise data, enabling teachers to monitor their progress in real-time via the backend and offer timely encouragement. This multi-faceted support network fosters a stronger sense of belonging among students.

FlexMSK’s Unique Advantages

Compared to other fitness tracking apps on the market, FlexMSK boasts three unparalleled, exclusive advantages:

1. Zero additional hardware cost: It can be operated using the existing smartphones/tablets of students’ families, completely eliminating the school’s huge budget and effort in purchasing, distributing, and maintaining bracelets.
2. Clinical-grade precision: The FlexMSK system features clinical-grade AI skeletal motion analysis technology (Patent No. HK30105427). Officially adopted by Hong Kong public hospitals (such as North District Hospital), schools, and social welfare organizations, the system accurately identifies joint points and calculates the range of motion.
3. Built-in MVAP Exercises: The application includes 12 exercises ranging from moderate to vigorous intensity—such as push-ups, sit-ups, planks, jumping jacks, running in place, and squats. Each exercise features a demonstration video with a real person, allowing for immediate use without modification and significantly reducing preparation time for teachers.

“Every day at home, our students use FlexMSK to perform five sets of physical exercises recommended by the Education Bureau (such as jumping jacks). After each session, FlexMSK provides a comprehensive score based on their performance and movement accuracy.”

— Mr Kok Yam-nam, Vice Principal – Tsung Tsin College

Act now: Start your 7-day free trial

To enable primary and secondary schools across Hong Kong to experience firsthand the administrative convenience offered by AI technology, we are launching the “Exclusive for Hong Kong Schools: FlexMSK 7-Day Free Trial Program.”

The free trial includes:

1. Dedicated teacher and student accounts: For unlimited use by the PE department and students in designated classes during the trial period.
2. Dedicated personnel come to set up and train: to ensure that teachers can get started easily.
3. MVPA standard motion library for unlimited use.
4. Export student exercise reports with a single click.