S. Koreans Slimmest Among People in OECD

By Yoon Ja-young
Staff Reporter

Diet has become a perennial major issue here, but Koreans are still a lot slimmer than people in other developed countries. According to statistics by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Koreans were the slimmest people in the 30 member countries.

The statistics showed the ratio of obese people among Koreans aged 15 or older stood at 3.5 percent, the lowest. Japan came next with a 3.9 percent obesity rate, followed by Switzerland, with 7.7 percent.

The most obese among the OECD member countries, meanwhile, was the United States ― the ratio of obese people was at 34.3 percent, followed by Mexico with 30 percent, New Zealand with 25 percent, and the United Kingdom with 24 percent.

``Obesity rates in England and the United States are substantially higher than in the other countries, and over five times those observed in Korea,'' the report said.

However, Koreans are not safe when it comes to being ``overweight.'' The rate of people who are obese or overweight recorded 30.5 percent here, higher than Japan's 24.9 percent. The ratio of overweight people in Korea was 27 percent, higher than Japan's 21 percent.

``Increases in the number of overweight and obese people are expected to happen at a progressively faster pace in countries (e.g. Korea, France) where rates of obesity were historically lower,'' the OECD said. ``In the absence of effective intervention, countries with historically low rates of overweight and obesity, such as Korea, may expect within the next 10 years to reach the same proportions of pre-obese population (BMI between 25 and 30) as countries that currently rank near the top of the Body Mass Index (BMI) league table, such as England,'' it added.

In Mexico and the United States, two out of three people were either overweight or obese. The United Kingdom and New Zealand were also heavy, with the ratio of such people standing at over 60 percent.

By gender, the ratio of obese women was 3.3 percent in Korea, while the figure for men was 3.7 percent. In the United States, however, 35.3 percent of women were obese, and 33.3 percent of men were so.

The report noted that there is little correlation in BMI between spouses in Korea. ``The low correlation in BMI between spouses may reflect cultural specificities in partner selection, possibly leading men with a higher BMI to prefer engaging in partnerships or marriage with women with a lower BMI,'' it explained.

The report added that a gradient is observed in most of the countries. The lower the education level, the higher the likelihood of being obese or overweight. ``Least educated women are at greatest disadvantage in Korea, Spain, Italy and France, where their chances of being overweight or obese are many times higher than those of their most educated counterparts,'' the report said.

chizpizza@koreatimes.co.kr

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