Despite China ranking No 1 in the gold medal tally there is the fact of the continuous decline of the physical constitution of Chinese youngsters, says an article in Jinwan Evening Post. The following is an excerpt:

With the closing of the Beijing Olympics and China winning the leading position in the gold medal count for the first time in history, many Chinese are proud. However, we cannot overlook the fact that the Chinese, especially the younger generation, have a worse physique.

As the research report on the physique and health of Chinese students conducted last year revealed, Chinese students' breathing capacity, speed, strength and endurance had been continuously on the decline, although they have better nutrition. Meanwhile, obesity and poor eyesight both posed threats to students.

The harsh fact serves as a reminder for us that the physique of the masses, especially the physique of students, must arouse more concerns even as China's competitive sports have made great achievements.

Since sports have nothing to do with the college entrance exam, sports classes are usually deemed "useless" in the eyes of teachers, parents and students. Some schools cancel sports classes to save time for academic courses, which is quite common especially in the run-up to the college entrance examination and is evidence of the weak position of sports in the schooling system.

Although in recent years, some regulatory bodies have boosted their support to physical education classes in schools such as listing the scores into the scores of entrance exams and requiring the one-hour-per-day physical exercise time for students, students and parents appear to share the same view with schools in thinking low of physical education classes. So, it is urgently necessary to raise the awareness about sports among students and parents. Without a better understanding of sports, physical education classes may take the test-oriented road when physical education scores can be counted in entrance exams.

The decline of our youngsters' physique poses a sharp contrast to the No 1 gold medal ranking of China in the Olympics. What we should seek next is the double success of competitive sports and national health.

(China Daily 09/01/2008 page4)