ACCORDING TO a freshly released national sport consumption tendency report, about 400 million people regularly participated in sports events in 2019, while 100 million others joined workout clubs or bought sporting equipment but did nothing more. China Daily writer Zhang Zhouxiang comments:

Which sporting equipment is the best investment proposal? Treadmill, because you will hardly use it after buying it and can label it as "brand-new" on secondhand sale websites even two years later.

This is a popular joke at a time #"100 million people pretend to do sport" is trending on domestic social networks, with many people sharing photos of dust gathering on their "brand-new" unused treadmills or gym membership cards.

But the fact that 400 million people, or 28 percent of the national population, regularly take part in exercises shows how serious the people are about health. And the 100 million people who prepare for some sporting activity but do no more should be encouraged.

Some young people refrain from engaging in sporting activity because they are exhausted after spending hours at work and then commuting back home.

And many equate "sports" with just going to the gym, thanks to the success of commercialism. But look around you. There are elderly people engaging in light exercises, such as square dancing, at parks. It is time the young learn something from their elderly counterparts. One does not need to join a gym for exercises－a half hour's walk in the park is enough.