Obese Adolescents Increased 3.6 Times in 5 Years... "Reduced Physical Activity Due to Corona"

Analysis of Nutritional Deficiency and Obesity Treatment Status from 2017 to 2021
Obesity Among Teenagers Increased by 263.2% Compared to 2017

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] The number of adolescents receiving medical treatment for obesity has increased approximately 3.6 times over the past five years. This appears to be influenced by lifestyle changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service announced the results of the analysis titled '2017?2021 Statistics on Nutritional Deficiency and Obesity' on the 23rd.

According to the analysis, the number of obesity patients in 2021 was 30,170, an increase of 101.6% compared to 2017. This corresponds to an average annual increase of 19.2% over five years.

The total annual medical expenses for obesity patients in 2021 amounted to 21.7535 billion KRW. This is an average annual increase of 143.7% compared to 615.01 million KRW in 2017. The medical expense per patient was 719,435 KRW in 2021, about 17 times higher than 41,094 KRW in 2017.

The number of obese adolescents in their teens increased about 3.6 times from 2017 to 2021. There were 1,227 obese teenagers in 2017 and 4,457 in 2021. Compared to 2020, the number increased by 2,010, marking the largest increase among all age groups during the same period.

The age groups with the highest proportion of obesity patients were those in their 30s and 40s. People in their 30s accounted for about 22.1% of all obesity patients, and those in their 40s accounted for 21.6%. Teenagers made up 14.8%, following behind. Compared to 2017, the number of obese patients in their 30s and 40s increased by 59.8% and 80.4%, respectively, in 2021.

The main causes of the increase in obesity patients are increased consumption of instant foods and decreased physical activity due to COVID-19. According to the '2020 Community Health Survey' released by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, 21.5% of respondents reported increased consumption of instant foods and similar items after the COVID-19 outbreak, and 38.5% reported increased consumption of delivery food. Additionally, 52.6% responded that physical activities such as exercise or walking decreased compared to before the pandemic.

Meanwhile, the number of patients with nutritional deficiencies also increased significantly over the five years. The number of nutritional deficiency patients rose from 149,791 in 2017 to 335,441 in 2021, approximately 2.2 times higher. The average annual growth rate was 22.3%.

In 2021, the age group with the highest proportion of nutritional deficiency patients was those in their 50s at 24%, followed by those in their 60s (21.0%) and 40s (16.8%). The age group with the highest growth rate from 2017 to 2021 was teenagers, with an increase of 181.6% over five years.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.