Chen Yamei, a sports teacher from Hainan University, keeps tracks of students' physical fitness programs. To graduate, students have to pass in selected sports, such as 1,000 meters for male students and 800 meters for female students. Many students who have difficulty passing the program have approached Chen tearfully pleading to be passed, and she said some students call begging her to pass them and some even threaten suicide.

"It is very difficult to be caught in the middle. I have a duty to follow authorities' policies and run PE tests. But if I apply the rules too strictly, many students will fail in these mandatory tests and can't graduate," Chen said.

At universities, students treat PE as a course they need to give special attention to only in the weeks leading to an exam. They spend a lot of their time on the computers and their smartphones, and obesity rates are rising, Chen said.

The remedy to these problems should be introduced early, during primary and middle school, to give more incentives for parents to take their children to sporting activities. Today, most parents are preoccupied with their children's academic grades, and have neglected to invest time and money in children's physical strength, she said.

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