Many Teenagers Start Smoking at 12
By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
Many Korean teenagers start smoking earlier than before with the average starting age falling from 15 in 1998 to 12.5 in 2006, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said Monday.
The ministry said the first-time smokers had got younger and their number grew bigger. One out of every five 18-year olds is smoking. The smoking rate had grown especially big among female students. In fact, it now doubled that of adult females.
The finding was made public in an online survey of 80,000 teenagers ranging from middle school freshmen to high school seniors last year. It calculated that the age of first time smokers and first time drinkers got a year younger every five years.
"Those attempting suicide when they were young and those starting to have sex early tended to also be part of this pool of young people smoking and drinking early," a ministry spokesman said.
First-time drinkers had also got younger. In 2006, the average age of them was 13.1, which is two years younger than that of 1998. Half of 18 year-olds were drinking and among them, half were binge drinkers.
Smoking teenagers were twice more likely to attempt suicide and seven times more likely to experiment sexually than non-smokers.
The ministry also said that most teenagers are eating less fruit, vegetables and drinking less milk than the government required intake, while eating too much fast food or ready-made food that can break the nutritious balance. Also, more than 20 percent of the respondents skip breakfast more than five times a week. This unbalanced nutrition affected children's outlook and the ratio of teenager obesity had doubled in seven years.
The ministry said that it will take these results into account in its formulation of future policies.