The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council, China's cabinet, issued a circular on Thursday urging more efforts to develop physical education and build up the health of youngsters.

The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games should be an opportunity to push forward physical education among Chinese youth and improve their health, says the circular.

The circular says that the health of Chinese students is deteriorating because of their heavy study burden and lack of sleep and physical exercise.

Recent reports show that the incidence of shortsightedness and obesity is high in urban areas while malnutrition is serious in the rural areas.

"If the problems cannot be effectively solved, the health of Chinese youngsters will be seriously affected, and the future of China and Chinese people will be affected," says the circular.

The circular urges measures be taken to improve the health of young people over the next five years.

It requires China's primary and middle schools to ensure students receive one-hour of physical exercise every day. Two sports days, one in spring and the other in autumn, should be held in each school every year.

Senior middle schools and universities should improve military training for the students. And physical performance examination should be given greater importance for entrance requirements for senior middle schools and universities, the circular says.

It also urges to ensure 10 hours of sleep every day for primary school students, nine hours for junior middle school students and eight hours for senior middle school students.

A new report by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention shows that the rate of malnutrition among Chinese children has dropped as family incomes have increased, but children aren't much healthier.

The proportion of overweight children is 2.6 times higher in families with a monthly income of over 10,000 yuan (nearly US$1,300) than in families with a monthly income of less than 800 yuan (about US$104).

It is also reported that children whose parents earn comparatively high salaries spend more hours in the classroom, watching TV and playing computer games, but do not get enough sleep. More than 73 percent of children from the richest families lack sleep. Urban children sleep less than rural children.

(Xinhua News Agency May 25, 2007)