A student does the standing long jump during the final physical education tests at No.2 Middle School in Beijing. (Photo: Xinhua)

Some 30 percent of Chinese college students failed to reach the "qualified" level of physical health as of 2020, showed a recent survey data from Ministry of Education.

The percentage was much higher than that of other student groups, the survey found. In 2020, the ratios of students failing to pass the physical health level were 6.5 percent, 14.5 percent and 11.8 percent among pupils, middle-schoolers and high-schoolers, respectively.

One of the main reasons leading to the relatively poor physical health of college students is that many engage in less exercise after going to college, Wang Dengfeng, director of the ministry's physical, health and arts education department, told China Central Television (CCTV) on Thursday.

Compared with primary and middle school students, those at universities who enjoy more "colorful" campus lifestyles are likely to spend more time on other things rather than physical exercise or sport-related activities, Wang analyzed.

The data, which came from the ministry's survey on the physical health situation of more than 1.15 million Chinese students, also showed worrying raises in figures related to shortsightedness and obesity, CCTV reported.

Education and health authorities are working on guiding and regulating schools across China to improve students' physical health levels, Wang said. "We must relieve the unreasonable homework load from students, and increase the length and intensity of students' PE classes and other physical exercises," he noted.

The ministry's survey included tests on students' body shapes, somatic functions and physical fitness, which contained several basic items including height, weight, lung capacity and 50-meter running, and additional items such as rope skipping and sit-ups, according a notice on the website of national student physical health data management center under the ministry.

Those who scored lower than 60 out of 120 were deemed to have failed the test, the notice said.

Global Times