1 in 3 Koreans now obese, highlighting mounting disease risks

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The obesity rate among Korean adults has climbed by roughly a third over the past decade, with one in three now classified as medically obese as of last year, underscoring rising public health risks from obesity-related diseases.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported Monday that 34.4 percent of Korean adults had a body mass index of 25 or higher, based on a nationwide survey of about 230,000 people aged 19 and older — up from 26.3 percent in 2015.

By gender, the obesity rate was 41.4 percent among men and 23 percent among women, highlighting a pronounced gender gap. The rate was particularly high among men in their 30s and 40s, at 53.1 percent and 50.3 percent.

Among women, obesity rates increased with age, peaking at 26.6 percent among those in their 60s and 27.9 percent among those 70 and older.

In addition, 74.7 percent of men and 78.4 percent of women said they had attempted to lose or manage weight at least once in the past year.

Regionally, the public health challenge was most pronounced in South Jeolla Province, where the obesity rate reached 36.8 percent. By contrast, Sejong City, the administrative capital founded in 2012, displayed the lowest rate at 29.1 percent, highlighting a striking regional disparity.

“Korea’s obesity rate remains below the OECD average, but lifestyle changes and increasingly Westernized diets are driving a steady rise,” the KDCA said, calling for stronger monitoring and public health measures.

OECD data shows that 36.5 percent of Koreans aged 15 and older were overweight or obese in 2023, compared with an OECD average of 56.4 percent — a gap of roughly 20 percentage points.