By Kim Tae-jong
Staff Reporter

With youth obesity becoming a social problem, a civic group Wednesday called for the government to take proper action, and plans to propose a bill to the National Assembly on the issue.

Many campaigns have been held to solve the problem, but it is the first time a solution has be sought via legislation.

``The problem of children’s obesity has reached a serious level,’’ Lee Young-joong, secretary general of Youth Health Solidarity, told The Korea Times. ``If we don’t take proper action now, it will be too late and we will have to pay for it.’’

The obesity rate among Korean children is reaching a similar level to that of kids in the United States and is twice as high as in Japan, he said.

The civic group and An Min-suck, a lawmaker of the pro-government Uri Party, had a public hearing at the National Assembly on Wednesday to prepare for the proposal of a bill to help prevent children from suffering from obesity.

The bill is expected to have articles that force each school to take care of students’ health with regular programs and to report the monitored results to the government agency responsible for it. The legislation is also likely to increase the budget for youth health care.

``The government has done nothing to solve the serious obesity problem among the young. We now think the most efficient way to deal with it is getting schools, parents and the government to work together closely,’’ Lee said.

Many other countries’ education and health ministries are now working to solve the problem of youth obesity through government-led campaigns and programs, he said.

The U.S. government established an organization, ``Action for Healthy Kids,’’ to address the problems of overweight, undernourished and sedentary youth and to improve the situation.

In Britain, the government has taken action to tackle obesity by appointing a ``minister for fitness.’’ In Australia, a campaign has been launched to encourage the young to engage in more physical activities outdoors.

``Children’s obesity results mainly from a lack of physical exercise, an imbalanced diet with too much fat and a lack of needed nutritional elements. These factors will first be tackled through programs under the law,’’ Lee said.

e3dward@koreatimes.co.kr