Report factors to improved well being, health of youth

Children take part in a running game at a kindergarten in Huzhou, Zhejiang Province on Wednesday, the first day of the new semester for most students across China. Nationwide, schools are taking measures to relieve their students and promote the holistic development of young people. WU ZHENG / EVERY DAY FOR CHINA

According to a national report released on Friday, the overall health and fitness of Chinese students have improved in recent years, with increases in size, weight, speed and lung capacity.

The report is based on a survey of 374,257 students, ages 6-22, across the country and conducted by the Department of Education and five other departments. This is the eighth time the five-year report has been published.

Among 13 to 22-year-olds, healthy people made up 17.7 percent of the total in 2019, 2.9 percentage points more than in 2014, according to the survey.

The percentage of healthy middle school students showed the greatest improvement in the period 2014-19 with an increase of 5.1 percentage points. However, the proportion of healthy university students remained relatively unchanged over the same period and, according to the survey, only increased by 0.2 percentage points.

In addition, the height, weight, and chest girth of both male and female students in all age groups have improved. Your lung capacity, strength, speed, flexibility, and endurance have also improved, while malnutrition rates have steadily declined, the survey said.

Wang Dengfeng, head of the department of physical, health and arts education at the ministry said the improvement was due to a number of educational guidelines aimed at enabling students to exercise more.

Central authorities’ latest policy to reduce the tutoring and homework burden on elementary and middle school students is also designed to give more students time to exercise, he said, adding that all students should be equipped with one or two athletic skills.

Despite advances in student general health, myopia and obesity rates among young students have remained high and university students’ fitness has not improved much, Wang said.

All elementary and middle school students are encouraged to take physical education classes every school day and to exercise two hours a day, he said.

Hao Fenglin, a ministry official, said the fitness of students in rural areas had also improved significantly and the difference in height, weight and lung capacity between urban and rural students had decreased.

Rural students do better than their urban counterparts in the long jump at 800 meters and 1,000 meters, thanks to ongoing poverty reduction efforts and increased investment in teaching, sports facilities and facilities in rural areas, he added.

zoushuo@chinadaily.com.cn