It turned out that half of Korean men in their 30s to 50s are obese. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency released the "2024 National Health and Nutrition Survey results" on the 30th. The survey covered 10,000 people in 192 regions nationwide.
Among adults 19 and older, the obesity rate—defined as a body mass index (BMI, weight divided by height squared) of 25 or higher—was 48.8% for men, up 3.2 percentage points from a year earlier. The obesity rate for men in their 40s was 61.7%, up 11.5 percentage points from the previous year. For men in their 30s it was 49.1%, and for men in their 50s it was 48.1%.
The obesity rate for women was 26.2%, down 1.6 percentage points from a year earlier. The obesity rate for women in their 30s fell 2.7 percentage points to 24.6%. For women in their 40s it was 25.7%, and for women in their 50s it was 27.9%.
Koreans' average daily energy intake was 1,865 kcal (kilocalories), similar to a year earlier. However, energy intake for men in their 30s and 50s rose by 114 kcal and 168.9 kcal, respectively, from a year ago.
For both men and women, fruit consumption fell while meat consumption increased. The agency said, "In particular, meat consumption among men in their 30s to 50s increased," adding, "For men in their 30s, fat accounted for 30.2% of total energy intake, exceeding the upper limit (30%) of the appropriate ratio for Koreans."
Prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, and hypercholesterolemia increased for both men and women from a year earlier. The prevalence of hypertension was 26.3% for men and 17.7% for women. For diabetes, it was 13.3% for men and 7.8% for women. The prevalence of hypercholesterolemia was 23.4% for both men and women.
Among those 40 and older, the prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was 10.6% for men and 3.6% for women, a slight decrease from 2019. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a condition in which the lungs or airways narrow, making breathing difficult. Smoking is usually the cause. The chronic obstructive disease survey was suspended from 2020 to 2023 due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Current tobacco product use also fell slightly from a year earlier for both men (36%) and women (6.9%).
Three out of 10 women aged 65 and older had osteoporosis. One out of 10 people aged 65 and older had sarcopenia. Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency Commissioner Lim Seung-kwan said, "Active management is necessary to improve quality of life in old age and prevent chronic diseases from becoming severe."