About 70 percent of Beijing primary school students bury their heads in textbooks after school, double the figure for their peers in Seoul and significantly more than the rate in Tokyo, a survey has found.

"Less than 20 percent of Beijing primary school students attend summer camps or take part in community activities," according to the results of a survey on the lifestyles of primary school students in the three capitals. The survey was conducted by the China Youth and Children's Research Center (CYCRC).

The survey found that 70 percent of Beijing students "study and read books at home" or "do homework at school" outside of class, compared with 43 percent of the children queried in Tokyo and 34 percent in Seoul.

Only 20 percent of Beijing children play games or watch TV at home, and only 10 percent play outdoors with classmates, according to the results of the survey, which covered more than 1,500 children each in Beijing and Tokyo and more than 2,000 in Seoul.

"Beijing students have comparatively little time for sports or recreation," said Sun Yunxiao, vice-director of the CYCRC.

The survey also found that about 40 percent of Tokyo children regularly eat fried foods like potato chips and sugary junk food, while almost 20 percent of Beijing and Seoul children regularly unhealthy snack foods like instant noodles.

Almost 60 percent of respondents "have meals while watching TV", the survey found.

The survey, jointly conducted by the CYCRC, the Japan Youth Research Institute and the Korea Institute for Youth Development, found that parents accompany most Beijing primary school students to school.

Less than 3 percent of Tokyo and Seoul students were accompanied by parents to school because most traveled with their classmates, while only 9 percent of Beijing students went to school with friends.

China Daily-Xinhua

(China Daily 05/30/2007 page4)