A Seoul subway station near City Hall is crowded with people wearing masks on Aug. 11, 2021. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, April 28 (Korea Bizwire) — Fewer people exercise regularly and more people are experiencing stress or depressive symptoms following the coronavirus outbreak, research showed Wednesday.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency conducted a study on adults over 19 years of age between 2019 and 2021, which showed that indices related to their physical activity and mental health had deteriorated throughout the pandemic.
The ratio of those who engaged in intensive physical exercise for more than 20 minutes per day, three days per week fell from 24.7 percent in 2019 to 19.8 percent in 2020 and 19.7 percent in 2021.
The ratio of those who experienced severe depressive symptoms for more than two weeks in the previous 12 months grew from 5.5 percent to 6.7 percent over the last three years. Stress levels, too, rose from 25.2 percent to 26.2 percent.
Indices related to personal sanitation and chronic diseases like obesity and high blood pressure improved in 2020 before falling back the next year.
The ratio of those who wash their hands after returning home grew from 85.5 percent in 2019 to 97.6 percent in 2020, before falling to 94.5 percent last year.
Usage of soap or hand sanitizer went from 81.3 percent to 93.2 percent and 89.3 percent over the last three years.
The obesity rate dropped slightly from 31.8 percent in 2018 to 31.3 percent in 2020, before going up 0.9 percentage points last year (32.2 percent).
The ratio of those over 30 years of age diagnosed with high blood pressure dropped slightly from 19.4 percent in 2019 to 19.2 percent in 2020, before climbing back up to 20 percent in 2021.
The ratio of those who walked for exercise dropped from 40.4 percent in 2019 to 37.4 percent in 2020, before climbing back to 40.3 percent in 2021.
The smoking rate dropped for three consecutive years from 20.3 percent to 19.8 percent and 19.1 percent.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
