Although obesity rates in South Korea are the second lowest in the OECD, after Japan, they have been increasing. Approximately 4% (1 in every 25) of South Korean adults are obese, and about 30% are overweight (including obese). The OECD estimates that overweight rates will go up by 5% during the next ten years. Adult females are five times more likely than more educated women to be overweight, while differences among males hardly vary across socioeconomic or academic groups. Korean researchers found that if at least one parent is obese, boys are about 3 times more likely and girls almost 6 times more likely to be obese too, compared to children with no obese parents in the household.

Of course, the findings that English-speaking countries have high levels of obesity is no shocker. Just looking out the window (or in the mirror) confirms this for me. However, I was interested on the snippet about Korea.

This has also been my observations in Korea. There has been a noticeable increase in obese children and adults over the last 10 years.

Also, the observation about educational attainment and weight (in women) interesting. It’s something I’ve noticed, but I didn’t think it was a larger trend. This makes sense given the increasing price of fruits and vegetables versus availability and dropping prices in processed goods. Not to mention the increase in dual-income families, given women (who traditionally manage the home) less time to prepare traditional (and healthy) Korean food.