Health of the young

Improved living standards do not necessarily mean better health unless the lifestyle is healthy. The declining general health of children nationwide, as revealed by a national survey, reconfirms this.

The survey was conducted in 2005 and its finding announced on Sunday by a national organization engaged in monitoring children's health. It shows that obesity and poor eyesight are two major ailments youngsters suffer from.

In addition, all body indexes concerning their general physique are declining compared with the survey result in 2000. For example, the lung capacity of young people aged from eight to 18 dropped by 303 to 259 milliliters, and so did the average velocity for 50 meters, 100 meters and 1,000 meters for youngsters of this age group.