The declining fitness of primary and secondary school students in Beijing has prompted city officials to conduct a five-year program to help teachers, students and parents to adopt more healthy lifestyles like eating and exercising better.

Results of a 2013 survey on the physical fitness of Beijing students showed that Beijing's teenagers are less physically fit than the teens in Japan, with schoolteachers blaming the schools' extensive focus on academic excellence but forgetting health and fitness in its educational curriculum.

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More than 21 percent of the 1.3 million primary and secondary students polled are obese and 62.86% suffer from poor eyesight. Among 401 junior and senior high school students, 30 percent had hypertension.

The poor results of the survey have forced school authorities to rethink their overall school curriculum, giving attention to physical education and nutrition.

Beijing's school curriculum is centered on the National College Entrance Tests, or gaokao, with teachers and parents cancelling sports activities during exams.

"As the baton of our entire education system, gaokao plays a pivotal role. It has a huge impact on curriculum and education planning, so we should really think about the possibility of adding sports testing to it," stated Li Ran, vice-president of the committee's education, culture, health, and sports commission.

Du Hong, deputy director of the department of disease prevention and control, said the unhealthy diets of Beijing students are largely responsible for their poor health.

"Students don't consume enough cereals, potatoes, vegetables, fruits and dairy products, while they take in too much oil and salt," she said.

The department has issued a dietary guide that recommends the right amount and type of food that students should be taking every day, and how much exercise they need to shed off excess calories.

School authorities have rallied behind calls to revise the education curriculum that will include mandatory campus exercise for students.