China has launched its sixth national physical fitness monitoring campaign to assess citizens' health and help guide public fitness policies.

Fitness enthusiasts attend a Body Combat group exercise class at Locker Space gym in Beijing. DU LIANYI/CHINA DAILY

The initiative, held every five years, is jointly organized by the General Administration of Sport, the Ministry of Education and seven other departments. It is currently underway across 31 provincial-level regions and includes 1,877 sampling points. Data will be collected from 248,000 people age 3 to 79 via questionnaires and physical tests in three categories: children, adults and seniors.

Feng Qiang, an official with the General Administration of Sport, told China Central Television that for the first time, this year's campaign will feature the real-time uploading of data to a national platform to ensure authenticity.

In another first, monitoring will include exercise-specific metrics such as cycling, high-knee lifts and pushups. The updates reflect shifting health priorities, with 25 core indicators now measuring body shape, physiological function, physical fitness and exercise habits.

Body weight and body mass index are now mandatory measurements. These align with the national "Weight Management Year" campaign, which calls on the public to focus on weight control, healthy eating and regular exercise.

According to the 2020 report, 49.6 percent of Chinese adults were overweight or obese, a 6.4 percentage point increase from the 2014 assessment.

In Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, 3,200 residents are taking part in the testing. Xue Liang, from the Zhejiang sports science institute, said the updated standards help identify individual fitness weaknesses. Experts on-site now offer personalized exercise prescriptions based on the results.

"Our goal is for more people to get their fitness monitored and also encouraged to exercise more often and scientifically," Xue said.

Hangzhou resident Wu Xiaowei said he discovered balance issues during his assessment that he had not noticed before, and now plans to address them through targeted training.

The national data collection is scheduled to conclude by June 30, with an official report expected in November.

Since its launch in 2000, the campaign has helped track shifting trends in public fitness.

The fifth survey, conducted in 2019, showed modest progress overall but raised concerns about increasing weight and declining muscular strength in some groups.

Experts noted that 25 years of continuous national fitness monitoring has helped build a clearer picture of China's evolving public health. The data also supports the development of improved public fitness services and helps identify gaps in sports infrastructure and participation.