"Being Short Is Not a Disease"... Daejeon Civic Group Opposes 'Height Growth Ordinance'

As a bill aimed at supporting students' height growth in Daejeon has been proposed, sparking controversy, a civic group in the Daejeon area has opposed the bill, arguing that it promotes prejudice that being tall is desirable and encourages appearance-based discrimination.

On the 19th, the Daejeon Participation and Autonomy Citizens' Coalition held a press conference in front of the Daejeon City Council, stating, "'Student Height Growth Ordinance' is a flawed ordinance limited only to growth plate examinations," and insisted, "It should be rejected at the Education Committee review scheduled for the 20th."

[Photo by Yonhap News]

They pointed out, "This ordinance only uses whether students are tall or short as the standard," and added, "It ignores important factors for growth such as children's lifestyle habits, nutritional status, and physical activities."

They also criticized the ordinance for "only supporting growth plate examination items," saying, "Students who have issues with their growth plates but find treatment difficult may feel a sense of relative deprivation." They further stated, "Being short is not a disease," and warned, "Unnecessary anxiety should not be increased among relatively shorter children."

They urged that the ordinance be revised to a 'Student Health Support Ordinance,' expanding the purpose of the ordinance to overall student health and changing the support content to establish a more effective and universal mental and physical support system.

Earlier, on the 6th, Kim Young-sam (People Power Party, Seo-gu 2), a member of the Daejeon City Council, proposed the 'Daejeon Metropolitan Office of Education Student Height Growth Support Ordinance' with the signatures of 13 city council members from the People Power Party. The ordinance allows the Daejeon Superintendent of Education to promote necessary projects such as supporting growth plate examination fees for elementary school students and developing and operating customized meal plans and exercise programs for height growth. According to the cost estimate attached to the ordinance, an annual budget of about 3.7 billion KRW is required solely for growth plate examination fees for all elementary school students in the Daejeon area.

Kim, the representative proposer of the ordinance, had previously presented "Increasing the average height of Daejeon students by 1 cm" as a key campaign pledge during his candidacy. He explained the reason for proposing the ordinance, saying, "Parents purchase expensive medicines and even use growth-promoting injection therapies to increase their children's height by even 1 cm. We should not leave height growth solely to the family domain but need public support and management."

The ordinance is scheduled to be submitted and reviewed at the Daejeon City Council Education Committee on the 20th.

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