Korean children’s physical fitness level deteriorates as they grow older, as they spend more time studying and less on outdoor activities, a survey showed.

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education released Sunday the result of its physical ability tests with 840,000 students in 2012.

The data showed that just eight percent of fifth and sixth grade elementary school students belonged in the lowest fourth and fifth levels in the five-level scale, while 13.9 percent of middle school students and 20.5 percent of high school students were included at the lowest levels.

The figures suggested that as students advanced to the upper school years they became less fit, according to the educational office.

The total number of students in the first and second levels stood at 314,000, or 37.5 percent, while those in the median level accounted for 400,000, or 47.5 percent.

The figures in general, however, improved compared to those of 2011 when 11.6 percent of fifth and sixth graders and 16.9 percent of middle school students marked the lowest physical fitness levels.

The test evaluates students’ physical ability in five categories including cardio-respiratory endurance, muscular endurance, flexibility and obesity.

“The facts that less credits for physical education are allocated at high school which usually focuses on university admission with vocational schools focusing on student employment might be behind the poor fitness levels of high school students,” an official from the SMOE said.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)