A recent national study has shown that women are generally in better health than men for one of the main reasons that they do more exercise on a daily basis, and Shanxi province fits this profile, with 94.4 percent of women found to be reaching the health qualified rate compared to 91.5 percent for men, based on a study of three cities in the province.

Women dance at a competition in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, on Nov 15, 2013. [Photo/chinanews.com]

The cities of Taiyuan, Datong and Yuncheng were chosen for the study, with Li Shijie, deputy director of the provincial Sports Bureau noting, “Data from these three can be used to represent the average condition of all of the province and we rank around the middle compared to other provinces.”

The Sports Bureau explains, “Women have more ways and a stronger inclination to do some exercise, and are more able to release their pressure and emotional problems.”

Women do Yoga on a festival in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, on Feb 6, 2015. [Photo/chinanews.com]

Shanxi says it has made a greater effort in recent years to promote mass sport movements and provide fitness and exercise facilities in villages and towns and has made mass sport activities a part of its 13th Five-year Plan (2016-20). However, according to Li, the result of the study may still have errors considering numerous inevitable objective and subjective factors.