High school students become turtles! Lack of fruits and vegetables and exercise

High school students are growing and should consume a balanced diet and exercise to show vitality. However, a survey by the National Health Bureau of the Department of Health shows that high school students consume less than 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day and even lack physical exercise. They spend their time on static activities such as watching TV and playing video games, becoming a group of lazy people.

The National Health Administration conducted a "Health Behavior Survey on High School, Vocational High School, and Technical College Students" in 2009. Random sampling was conducted across the country, and students filled out questionnaires on their own. The effective sample size was 3,465. The results showed that in terms of diet, 63% of students consumed less than 3 servings of vegetables per day, and 51% of students consumed less than 2 servings of fruit per day.

The results of exercise were even more surprising. 73% of students did not meet the recommended amount of regular exercise of 30 minutes a day, 3 days a week, but as many as 42% indicated that they watched TV or played video games for more than 2 hours continuously for more than 2 days a week.

According to the latest "Life Cycle Nutrition" nutritional intake guidelines released by the Department of Health, high school boys are recommended to consume 4 to 6 servings of vegetables and 3 to 4 servings of fruit per day, depending on the level of activity; high school girls are recommended to consume 3 to 5 servings of vegetables and 2 to 4 servings of fruit per day. In addition, it is generally recommended that high school students engage in at least 210 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week to achieve good health and development.

Chen Yanfang, head of the National Health Administration's community health group, said that if high school students do not consume enough fruits and vegetables, do not exercise enough, and engage in long periods of static activities, they will easily become candidates for metabolic syndrome and other chronic diseases. They will also be unable to concentrate on their heavy schoolwork due to poor physical fitness.