One in Two Men in Their 30s and 40s Is Obese... Obesity Rates Surge Over 10 Years

Adult obesity rate at 35.4%, up 7.5 percentage points in 10 years
42.5% among men, 22.9% among women... sharpest increase among people in their 20s

One in three adults in South Korea is obese. More than half of men in their 30s and 40s were obese, while over the past decade, obesity rates increased most sharply among people in their 20s, for both men and women.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) announced the results of an in-depth analysis of obesity and related health behaviors based on data from the 2025 Community Health Survey.

The analysis found that the obesity rate among adults in South Korea was 35.4% last year. This was an increase of 7.5 percentage points from 26.9% in 2016. Over the same period, the rates of attempts to control weight and subjective recognition of obesity also rose steadily, reaching 68.5% and 45.1%, respectively. By contrast, the underweight rate continued to decline, standing at 4.2%.

By gender, the obesity rate among men was 42.5%, about 1.9 times the rate among women (22.9%). Among men, obesity rates were highest in those in their 30s (52.1%) and 40s (53.1%). After age 40, the rate tended to decrease as age increased. Among women, the obesity rate was lowest among those in their 20s (16.4%) and generally rose with age, reaching its highest level of 27.4% among those aged 70 and older.

A review of obesity trends over the past 10 years (2016-2025) found that rates increased among men in every age group. The largest increase was among men in their 20s, whose obesity rate reached 43.4%, up 12.9 percentage points. Among women, the largest increase was also among those in their 20s, with the rate rising 60.8% (6.2 percentage points).

An analysis of factors associated with obesity by health behavior found significant associations with not doing strength-training exercises (1.3 times), sleeping six hours or less (1.2 times), skipping breakfast (1.1 times), not walking for exercise (1.1 times), and drinking alcohol (1.1 times).

Lim Seung-kwan, commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, said, "Obesity is a major health concern that raises the risk of chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes. It is therefore important to have an accurate understanding of your weight and practice healthy habits, including a healthy diet and regular physical activity."

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