[Graphic News] Students in remote regions less fit: study

South Korean schoolchildren living in remote areas are significantly less fit than those living in cities, a study showed on Monday.

According to the study released by Saenuri Party Rep. Yeom Dong-yeol, 18 percent of the students living in Gangwon Province, a mountainous region, and attending small-sized schools belonged to either level 4 or 5, the lowest of the five fitness levels.

Gangwon was followed by North Jeolla Province -- a region with many remote fishing, farming and mountain villages -- where 12.8 percent of all students rated either level 4 or 5. The two provinces had the highest number of students with low fitness levels.

Overall, 8.9 percent of all Korean schoolchildren received level 4 or 5.

On the other hand, bigger cities had relatively fewer students with low fitness levels. Daegu had the lowest number of such students among all regions, followed by Busan and Ulsan. In Daegu, only 4.6 percent students received levels 4 or 5, while 5.5 percent of Busan and 5.6 percent of Ulsan students received the same scores, respectively.

Meanwhile, the highest number of all Korean students, 43.5 percent, were level 3, while 41.4 percent received level 2. Only 6.2 percent were level 1, and 8.9 percent belonged to either levels 4 or 5.

A total of 4,349,619 schoolchildren nationwide were tested for the study last year. The tests included push-ups and precision jumps among others.