Songpa District best in children's nourishment state

By Lee Ji-hye

Songpa District is leading the way among big-city areas for children’s nourishment, recording 78.95 points out of 100.

Among smaller towns, Taebaek in Gangwon Province scored 75.95.

Among rural regions, Cheorwon County in Gangwon Province achieved 77.41.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety released the survey results Thursday.

The assessment looked at diet safety and nutrition as the key points for evaluation, along with food safety awareness and education among various regions. The national average was 67.54.

Big cities such as Seoul averaged 67.65, mid-sized cities 67.87, while in agricultural areas it was 67.34.

The government has designated district offices nationwide to increase the level of food safety and awareness.

"Many areas that scored low on this evaluation were places that had not installed children’s cafeteria managing centers, or regions that had incidences of food poisoning," an official at the ministry said.

Regions with better scores also had comparatively higher levels of awareness and food safety education programs.

This food safety evaluation was the first and it will be done every three years.

The ministry plans to draft additional proposals for low-scoring regions in collaboration with Statistics Korea to keep track of nutrition rates and produce a digital map of food safety.