Running is dangerous?

BEIJING - News of young people dying while practicing sports kept hitting headlines, once again raising concerns over deteriorating physical conditions of Chinese youth.

A junior year university student in Shanghai dropped dead after a routine 1,000 meters running test on Tuesday.

On the same day, a 25-yera-old Guangzhou marathon participant died in a Guangzhou hospital after eight days in intensive care, to register the second death in the event.

A university student, Chen Jie, died of cardiogenic shock hours after the November 18 marathon.

In September, over 30 university students "felt dizzy and nauseated" and "fainted" during a school opening day ceremony in Wuhan, Hubei province, Beijing Morning News reported.

"These students have been neglecting physical exercises for a long time and become weak. They should pay attention to that," Kong Jianyi, deputy headmaster of Wuhan University of Science and Techonology, was quoted by the newspaper as saying.

An internet user Honeyecho said she understood why young people are so fragile nowadays.

"My nephew has to study from seven in the morning to almost midnight. He also needs to attend make-up classes over weekends," Honeyecho said about the boy who suffers asthma and fights for the entrance examination to high school.

As far as a 2010 national research by General Administration of Sport concerned, the physical conditions of university students kept slipping, though by a small margin while over 80 percent of them are nearsighted.

The report by China's sports governing body also said the overweight rate among students between the age of 7-22 climbed to a new high.

"School sports should have played a foundamental role in our sports for all projects but students are requested to deal with so many demanding exams, which force them to focus on their study and give up exercises," said Jin Can, Beijing Academy of Social Sciences.