One in Three Elementary, Middle, and High School Students Obese; Six out of Ten Have Vision Issues

One out of every three elementary, middle, and high school students nationwide is either overweight or obese. Additionally, six out of ten students either use corrective eyewear such as glasses or contact lenses, or have at least one eye with uncorrected vision of 0.7 or lower.

On April 28, the Ministry of Education released the results of the "2025 Student Health Examination Sample Statistics." The analysis covers physical development and health checkup results from 1,131 sample schools selected among elementary, middle, and high schools nationwide. The physical development survey included all grades, while the health checkups were conducted for grades 1 to 4 in elementary school and grade 1 in both middle and high schools.

The results show that the average obesity rate among elementary, middle, and high school students was 29.7%, up 0.4 percentage points from the previous year (29.3%). Although the obesity rate had declined for three consecutive years up to 2024, it began to rise again last year. By school level, the rate was highest in high schools at 31.0%, followed by elementary schools at 29.7%, and middle schools at 28.2%.

In terms of height development for male students: first graders in elementary school averaged 122.4 cm, fourth graders 140.4 cm, first graders in middle school 161.4 cm, and first graders in high school 173.0 cm. For female students: first graders in elementary school were 120.8 cm, fourth graders 139.9 cm, first graders in middle school 157.4 cm, and first graders in high school 161.3 cm. The average heights by grade for both male and female students were similar to the previous year's figures.

As for weight, male students averaged 25.5 kg in first grade of elementary school, 39.2 kg in fourth grade, 57.0 kg in first grade of middle school, and 70.5 kg in first grade of high school. Female students weighed an average of 24.1 kg in first grade of elementary school, 36.6 kg in fourth grade, 50.7 kg in first grade of middle school, and 57.1 kg in first grade of high school. These figures were also similar to those of the previous year for both genders.

The health checkups covered 10 areas including oral health, vision, and pathology tests (urine, blood, tuberculosis, blood pressure) for first and fourth graders in elementary school, and first graders in middle and high schools.

The proportion of students found to have "vision issues" in vision tests was 58.25%, an increase of 1.21 percentage points from the previous year (57.04%). "Vision issues" refer to students who are undergoing correction with glasses or other means, or those whose uncorrected vision in either eye is 0.7 or lower.

The proportion of students with vision issues declined from 58.02% in 2021 to 55.17% in 2022, but has since been on the rise again.

The proportion of students found to have dental caries in oral health examinations was 16.30%, a decrease of 2.40 percentage points compared to the previous year (18.70%).

Minister of Education Choi Kyojin emphasized, "As confirmed in these sample statistics, it is necessary to strengthen the management of 'obese students,' who may be at risk of developing various chronic and cardiovascular diseases. Careful attention and support are also needed for students with vision issues."

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