By Lee Hyo-sik
A growing number of elementary and secondary school students are becoming obese as they eat more ramyeon and other fast foods, but less fruits and vegetables. Lack of sleep and exercise have also contributed to worsening Korean teenagers’ health.
Unveiling these findings, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said parents and schools should do more to improve the physical condition of Korea’s future generation.
After examining a total of 194,817 elementary, middle- and high-school students across the country, the ministry said Wednesday that the height of a male sixth grader averaged 150.5 centimeters in 2009, up 0.3 centimeters from a year earlier, with that of the female sixth grader remaining unchanged over the one-year period.
But the average heights of the male 12th graders (173.8 centimeters) and female 12th graders (161.1 centimeters) were 0.1 centimeters shorter than those in 2008.
The average male sixth grader weighed 45.9 kilograms last year, up 400 grams from 2008, with that of the female 12th graders gaining 900 grams to 56 kilograms.
With more students gaining weight and a stagnating in height growth, about 13.2 percent of the examined students were found to be overweight, up from 11.2 percent in 2008.
Obesity is a condition in which excess body fat accumulates to the extent that it may have adverse effects on health. The body mass index (BMI), a measurement which compares weight and height, defines people as overweight, or pre-obese, if their BMI is between 25 and 30, and obese when it is greater than 30.
In particular, the ratio of students with a BMI over 50 rose to 1.1 percent in 2009, up from 0.8 percent, the ministry said. About 1.8 percent of male high school students were extremely obese.
In contrast, 5.6 percent of the students were found to be underweight as many female pupils go on diets to lose weight, indicating that parents and schools should pay more attention to preventing them from taking extreme measures to lose weight because it could adversely affect their health.
The ministry also found that nearly 80 percent of elementary and secondary students eat instant noodles as a meal for more than once a week, with up to 60 percent regularly consuming fast food. But less than 40 percent said they eat fruit and vegetables every day.
For instance, 75.6 percent of elementary school students said they consumed ramyeon more than once a week, with 50 percent regularly eating hamburgers and other fast food. But only 18 percent of Korean children aged 8-13 ate fruit and vegetables every day.
Additionally, 14.3 percent of high school students were found not to eat breakfast. About 4.8 percent of elementary school students and 10.6 percent of middle school students skipped the first meal of the day.
Only 2.1 percent of elementary school pupils, 23.9 percent of middle school students and 17.4 percent of high school students said they engaged in intense physical activities more than three times a week. Over 42 percent of high school students were found to sleep less than six hours a night.