"Chinese kids eat too much," says sports official

BEIJING (Reuters) - Overeating and the pursuit of good grades are holding Chinese teenagers back from taking part in sport, the country's vice sports minister said on Tuesday.

With the start of the Beijing Olympics less that a month away, early results of a survey indicated that the number of Chinese exercising regularly had risen above the 33 percent reported five years ago.

However, while the middle aged and elderly were the keenest to exercise, teenagers had too many distractions.

"The culture in China is for students to pass exams and get good grades," vice minister Feng Jianzhong told a news conference.

"For the sake of good grades, parents want their children to spend more time in the classroom."

The vice minister added that there were too many choices for children such computers and electronic toys.

"Lastly, Chinese kids eat too much and too well, and after meals they might be too full to exercise."

Some 50 million students regularly take part in sports in nearly 12,000 "traditional sports schools" all over China, and 2,379 youth sports clubs are involving 200 million students each year, Feng said.

China had invested 2.6 billion yuan ($381.3 million) in exercise facilities in rural areas by 2008 and 3 billion yuan on "fitness corners" in public places by 2007.

Some 70 million yuan had been spent on 20 national fitness centers and 32 sports youth camps, he added.

(Additional reporting by Liu Zhen; Editing by Peter Rutherford)