Bae Eun-joo is a layout editor at the news print division.
Preventing childhood obesity
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By Bae Eun-joo
The government has recently announced that it will overhaul its health checkup system for grade school students.
The Ministry of Education said that the annual checkup will focus on early prevention of childhood obesity, as an increasing number of students are diagnosed with obesity-related diseases.
Established in 1951, the school health checkup was initially called the "student physical examination" but its name was changed to "student health examination" in 2005. The annual checkup conducted at all the schools has been criticized for its inefficiency as the ministry failed to revise its system to meet students' changing physical conditions.
Some of the unnecessary test items that will be excluded from the checkup starting as early as next year are tests on blood type, hepatitis B and color blindness. The government cited that blood type tests are mostly conducted on newborns at hospitals and are considered private information. It also said that less than 0.1 percent of students have tested positive for hepatitis B in the last four years and other tests will replace the hepatitis B examination. As for color blindness, also known as dyschramatopsia, there is no known cure for the condition at present.
On the other hand, the government said that an increasing number of students are becoming obese and need early preventive care.
The data provided by Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH) shows that an increasing number of students throughout grade school are becoming obese. In 2014, 8.1 percent of the students were overweight ― between the 85-95 percentile of a BMI (body mass index) ― and 12.9 percent were obese ― 95 percentile of a BMI. This means that 21 percent of students were in the above-average weight group, a 1.37 increase from 15.3 percent in 2007.
Another recent report by the National Education Information Service (NEIS) says that 15 out of 100 elementary school students are obese.
It says that the obesity rate among elementary school students increased to 14.7 percent last year from 13.5 percent in 2014 and 11.7 percent in 2013. The obesity rate among middle and high school students was also recorded at 18.2 percent in 2015, a steady increase from 16.7 percent in 2014, 15.4 percent in 2014 and 13.8 percent in 2013.
NEIS indicated that long hours sitting at desks, lack of exercise and stress from the grueling hours of studying were the main causes of students’ increasing obesity.
As the students’ lifestyles and eating habits are changing fast, the government announced that it has decided to include some new tests in the checkup to measure child obesity. They include examinations on high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, neutral fat low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol for early detection of Insulin Resistance Syndrome and waist measurement.
Scoliosis, which causes abnormal curvature of the spine, has also been named as one of the more commonly found conditions in students these days. Insufficient exercise and long hours of study may cause asymmetry in students’ posture and lead to idiopathic scoliosis, which typically occurs in individuals 10 to 18 years old, according to the SNUH data.
Closely associated with childhood obesity is dental care. Wide exposure to sweets and fast food has led to a steady increase of dental diseases in students over the last five years.
The annual health examinations conducted on students starting in the first grade of elementary school to the third grade of high school show that 31.4 percent of students had cavities in 2014, compared to 28.4 percent in 2013, 30.9 percent in 2012 and 28.9 percent in 2011.
According to “Health at a Glance 2015” published by the OECD, 26.4 percent of Korean boys and male adolescents between five and 12 years old are obese and 14.1 percent of Korean girls and female adolescents are obese.
The Center for Disease Control warns that children and adolescents who are obese are more likely to be obese as adults and therefore more at risk for adult health problems, such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, cancer and osteoarthritis.
The city of Nonsan, South Chungcheong Province, announced recently that it will begin physical education programs at 12 schools this year to help students develop healthy lifestyles and prevent obesity.
A team of physical therapists, nurses and nutritionists will design programs that include jumping rope, Tae Bo, cheerleading routines and regular consultations with students.
I hope that schools in Nonsan will set a good example in teaching students good habits in dietary and physical activity early on and help them find the joy in healthy eating, moving their bodies and being physically active.