Beijing Children: Less active, more competitive

Weekends are generally for fun and relaxation for kids and adults alike. But children in Beijing have a different kind of weekend that makes them the least active but more competitive among all their peers across China.

Chinanews.com and China Daily cited a report by 360 Kids Guard, a Chinese smart watch brand, which found Beijing children take 3,500 steps daily, the lowest among all Chinese cities. Kids from Shanghai are similar to their Beijing peers with 3,540 steps. Children from the southwest city of Chongqing are the most active, with more than 6,000 steps. However, it is not clear when the study took place and how many children were surveyed. China Daily said the company sold 1.8 million devices across the country in 2016.

Meanwhile, a CCTV report cited an education platform which said that Beijing and Shanghai kids spend just over 4 hours every weekend playing or strolling in parks and devote more than 12 hours of the weekend to academic classes, mostly training sessions. But their Chongqing counterparts? These kids have at least 16 hours of ‘play’ time.

According to CCTV, the report shows how fierce competition in first-tier cities and other cities affects children’s activities in the country. Meanwhile, at least one expert believes environmental factors have also had their own impact on the situation. “The number of steps for Chongqing children almost doubled that of Beijing kids, partly because of the capital’s inconvenient traffic and smoggy air,” Pei Zhiyong, an expert from an organization on teenagers network security education, told China Daily.

In one of our recent articles we discussed how academic challenges can cause anxiety and impact a child’s mental health. We have also interviewed teenage students who said pollution made them less motivated to study and do outdoor activities. Parents can find out more about these issues, as well as other school topics, at the Beijing International School Expo on February 18-19, 2017. Upon publication of this article, 55 domestic and overseas schools and 19 after-school providers will be in attendance.