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Mentally strong, but physical failures

By Wang Wei (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-05-10 08:02

Students from Peking University take part in a long-distance race organized by the college in 2009. Photos provided to China Daily

The joy of obtaining his first job offer disappeared as soon as Mi Nan, a recent university graduate, received the result of an employment health check last week.

The graduate from Beijing Institute of Technology was found to have a moderately fatty liver, a disease more commonly found in middle-aged people. Yet, Mi is only 22. He attributes the condition to a lack of exercise and the excessive banquets he took part in before graduation.

"I haven't done any exercise for almost a year," he said, adding that there is no physical education (PE) class in the third- and fourth-year university curricula, and that he has been busy finding a job over the past few months.

The health of university students in the capital is not good. Many of them suffer from poor eyesight, obesity and being underweight, according to research conducted by Peking University.

The research, which was released on April 24, indicates that 25 percent of male students from the prestigious university failed the test and only 0.05 percent reached a level of excellence. Female students enjoy relatively good health; only 6.45 percent of females failed the physical test.

Students with the college's cycling association enjoy a road trip. Photos provided to China Daily

A total of 11,046 Peking University students participated in the physical test - 6,210 male and 4,836 female. Six things were checked, including height, weight and lung capacity. The results were categorized into four levels: excellent, good, pass and fail.

Overweight and obesity are male university students' biggest health threats, according to the research. Some 9.37 percent of male students are overweight and 25.56 percent are obese.

On the other hand, the biggest health problem for female students is being underweight. About 40 percent of the female participants were underweight.

Although Chen Ying is very slim, the senior student from the University of International Business and Economics aims to lose 2.5 kg before summer vacation. She only eats fruit for supper and has reduced her intake of rice for lunch.

"Losing weight is the everlasting topic for women," Chen said. "As long as I don't take weight pills I will be fine."

Meanwhile, the health of middle school students is also causing concern. A total of 76,000 senior middle school students were put through physical checks before they applied to universities. The recently released results show that 80 percent of the students have eyesight problems and 32 percent are overweight.

Health experts say heavy study pressure and unhealthy diets are

the primary reasons that more university students are encountering health problems.

"Students have been educated to study in their house to cope with academic pressure since primary school so they lack the ability to do all types of sports," said Sun Liguang, director of the Beijing Physical Examination Center.

"Teachers should be aware that some students' health index is very low, which is bad for their overall development," he added.

Sun Xiaohua, a Chinese teacher at Luhe Middle School, said that final-year students were supposed to have six hours of physical education classes every week, but because of the fierce competition to win places at universities PE classes were often replaced by basic foundation lessons or quizzes.

"Sometimes we squeeze six PE classes to two or even none," she said.

China Daily

(China Daily 05/10/2011)