SEOUL, Nov. 25 (Korea Bizwire) — For South Korean adults, the obesity and diabetes prevalence rate slightly declined, while the high cholesterol prevalence rate increased last year, a report showed Thursday.
The obesity prevalence rate stood at 46.3 percent for men and 26.9 percent for women last year, down 1.7 percentage points and 0.8 percentage points, respectively from a year ago, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) report based on health checkup results from about 10,000 adults over 19 years of age.
However, the rate for men in their 40s increased by 7 percentage points year on year to 57.7 percent, while that for women in their 30s grew by 3 percentage points to 25.7 percent.
Unlike other chronic diseases, the high cholesterol prevalence rate marked a higher than 1 percentage point growth.
Adults in their 50s marked the highest growth rate. Year on year, men showed a 7 percentage point growth, compared to 6.6 percentage points for women.
“The national health level improved somewhat last year, the second year of COVID-19 pandemic, compared to the first year, but failed to return to pre-pandemic levels,” the KDCA said.
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