The eyesight of young students in Beijing gets worse as their school careers advance according to a recent survey, which shows that 86 percent of students in colleges and 31 percent in primary schools have poor eyesight.

Tong Zhiyan, an official with the Beijing sports administration, said the city's rate of young with poor eyesight and who are overweight continues to grow and is the worst in the country.

Tong said governments and schools should take measures to curb the deterioration of eyesight and the weight of students.

A total of 32,879 people between the ages of three and 69 were surveyed in 2005. The 2005 survey found 22.1 percent of Beijingers were "very" physically fit, up 4.2 percentage points from 2000, and 27.2 percent were classified as "good," a drop of 0.3 percentage points since 2000.

A nationwide survey on student health conducted by the Ministry of Education in 2004 found that 80 percent of Chinese college students suffered from poor eyesight and that the older the students, the poorer their sight.

(Xinhua News Agency November 27, 2006)