Exercisers' self-reliance 'is hurting' fitness push

Despite growing public participation in sports and exercise, the lack of scientific guidance is taking a toll on China's mass fitness campaign, according to a new national survey.

Motivated by the pursuit of a healthier lifestyle, the proportion of Chinese who exercise at least three times a week had increased to 33.9 percent of the country's population by the end of last year-an increase of 5.7 percentage points from 2007, according to the national exercise survey released on Monday by the China Institute of Sport Science.

The survey analyzed data from 53,401 people under age 19 and 81,828 age 20 or older from 31 provinces and municipalities between January and April.