Koreans fight the fat but men can`t stop smoking Korean herald Tuesday December 4th
Highlights:
Korea was least (13th) fattest. Canada 4th fattest
Korea ranked highest in number of men who smoke.
Korea eats the most fruit and vegetables (no doubt true for the vegetables, but there is no way Koreans eat a lot of fruit. I would like to see separate stats on fruit and veggies.)
Article starts here:
The obesity rate of Koreans was measured to be the lowest among 13 surveyed OECD nations, according to an analyzed OECD report.
In 2005, the obesity rate of Koreans was found to be 3.5 percent, whereas the OECD average was 14.6 percent, according to the OECD Health Data 2007, analyzed by Bae Sung-il, a researcher at the National Health Insurance Corporation.
Mexico had the highest obesity rate with 30.2 percent, Britain was rated second with 23 percent and Canada was fourth with 18 percent, the report said. Traditional fat champ the United States did not submit data for 2005.
Korea maintains its low obesity rate because Koreans consume a great amount of vegetables and fruits, and tend to stay away from sugar and other greasy food products, Bae said.
In 2003, Koreans reportedly consumed 275.1 kilograms of fruits and vegetables per year on average, the highest amount among 29 OECD nations.
On the other hand, sugar consumption was ninth lowest and Korea's fat consumption was ranked bottom, reports said.
However, the nation had the largest number of male smokers out of the 16 survey nations, the report said.
Almost one in two men, 46.6 percent, smoked in 2005, it said.
A total of 66.3 Korean men for every 100,000 died of lung cancer in 2004, which is a higher number than the OECD average of 57.6, the report said.
We need to develop a policy to lower the smoking rate across the nation since it also causes increases in the medical insurance fees, Bae said.
