National push improves people's physical well-being

Concerted steps have been taken in recent years to enhance the physical fitness of young people, playing a significant role in helping them develop exercise habits, adapt to society and grow healthily, according to the General Administration of Sport of China.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), China has expanded the availability of youth sports events, organizing over 145,000 running activities, said Gao Zhidan, head of the country's sports ministry.

He said at a news conference in August that these events have spanned all age groups and times of the year, reinforcing the "health first" concept among youngsters and boosting their enthusiasm for physical exercise and sports participation.

To help young people and their parents understand how to exercise safely and scientifically, Gao said that the administration has ramped up research efforts. Last year, for instance, it provided 20 suggestions to guide children's fitness across eight aspects, including exercise methods, intensity and duration.

It has also created educational animations, invited experts to livestream fitness methods and organized knowledge competitions to achieve the goal. "What we wanted was to instill scientific and healthy exercise concepts in children through methods they could easily embrace," he said, noting that sports are increasingly becoming a lifestyle choice for more young people and their families.

To address the shortage of physical education teachers in rural areas, the administration has organized over 3,200 volunteers from some 50 colleges to offer PE classes or provide after-school sports services in more than 800 township primary and secondary schools across the country in the past five years, benefiting over 1.5 million students, according to Gao.

He revealed that a youth physical health intervention system, which includes exercise and health education, has been initially established in 12 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities to face common issues among adolescents such as myopia, obesity and scoliosis.

"We'll continue these measures to promote sports and physical activities, helping a broader range of young people become healthier and grow into pillars of the nation's development," he added.

While focusing on enriching sports event offerings for youngsters, China has also stepped up efforts to advance its national fitness by building and utilizing venues and facilities over the past five years.

Data released by the administration showed that more than 170,000 sets of small and diverse fitness facilities, such as table tennis tables, have been built in nearly 20,000 residential areas and over 5,000 urban parks.

At the same time, the country has also been continuously increasing the construction of stadiums with spectator seating and facilities, sports parks, skating rinks, ski resorts and fitness centers. By the end of last year, over 1,300 new sports parks with an average area of more than 40,000 square meters were built and put into use, according to data from the General Administration of Sport of China.

The comprehensive utilization efficiency of sports venues has seen significant improvement, with the data showing the country allocated 5.65 billion yuan ($791.13 million) to support the free or low-cost access of sports venues to the public in the past five years. The administration released that by the end of this year, 3,370 venues across nearly 1,500 county-level administrative regions will receive subsidies, making the beneficial public access to sports venues the new norm.