Nutritional Deficiency Rises in South Korea as Energy Intake Declines | Be Korea-savvy

Nutritional Deficiency Rises in South Korea as Energy Intake Declines


A lunchbox display at a convenience store in Seoul. (Yonhap)

A lunchbox display at a convenience store in Seoul. (Yonhap)

SEOUL, Jan. 29 (Korea Bizwire) —  The percentage of South Koreans suffering from nutritional deficiencies has more than doubled over the past decade, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s (KDCA) 2023 National Health Statistics report released on January 28, 2025.

In 2023, 17.9% of Koreans aged one and older were classified as nutritionally deficient, up from 8.4% in 2014. Nutritional deficiency is defined as consuming less than 75% of the estimated energy requirement while falling short of the average intake levels for calcium, iron, vitamin A, and riboflavin.

The issue is particularly acute among teenagers and young adults. In 2023, 23.5% of male teenagers and 25.6% of women in their 20s were found to have inadequate nutrition—equivalent to one in four individuals in these age groups.

Income disparity also played a role, with 21% of low-income individuals being nutritionally deficient compared to 14.6% in higher-income groups.

Overall, daily energy intake has fallen significantly, from an average of 2,067.6 kcal in 2014 to 1,862.1 kcal in 2023—a nearly 200 kcal decrease. This decline has resulted in 36.8% of South Koreans consuming insufficient energy in 2023, compared to 28.5% in 2014.

The report also highlights widespread deficiencies in key nutrients: 71% of the population consumed insufficient calcium, 72.4% fell short on vitamin A, 56.4% lacked adequate iron, and 27.9% had insufficient riboflavin intake.

The findings are based on annual surveys involving around 10,000 participants, with food intake measured by documenting the types and amounts of food consumed in a single day.

The growing prevalence of nutritional deficiencies underscores the need for greater public health efforts to address dietary imbalances and ensure adequate nutrient intake across all demographics.

Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>