Chinese Students: Sweatin' to the Oldies

Dance classes to be mandatory for Chinese pupils because of obesity concerns
Dance classes soon will be mandatory for Chinese elementary and secondary students because of worries about increased obesity, news media reported Tuesday.

China Daily newspaper said in a front-page story the dance classes - "to suit the physical and psychological characteristics of students at all ages" - will become compulsory from Sept. 1, quoting a notice from the Education Ministry.

It said the dances will be performed during class breaks or during extracurricular time.

Not everyone is convinced. Another article about this story offered a word of caution from this teacher in Beijing:

"[L]etting students waltz will create hotbeds of adolescent love. That is not good. Schools work very hard to prevent students from falling in love too early."

Tango, maybe. Waltz, probably not.