Secular trends in pediatric overweight and obesity in Korea

Over the previous decades, the prevalence of pediatric obesity has been increased in Korea as well as worldwide. Pediatric obesity is associated with comorbidities in childhood and adulthood. We reviewed the prevalence of pediatric obesity using data from the National School Health Examination (NSHE) and the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). Obesity was defined as a body mass index (BMI) ≥25 kg/m²; BMI ≥95th percentile for the corresponding sex and age in the 2007 growth charts for the NSHE; or BMI ≥95th percentile for the corresponding sex and age in the 2017 growth charts for the KNHANES. There was a slight discrepancy in the prevalence of obesity depending on the data source. The prevalence of obesity increased from 8.7% in 2007 to 15.0% in 2017 in the NSHE (in children aged 6–18 years) and from 8.6% in 2001 to 9.8% in 2017 in the KNHANES (in children aged 2–18 years). The increase in the prevalence of obesity was higher in boys and high school students. Accurate epidemiologic data analyzed using the new 2017 growth charts are essential in developing strategies for controlling obesity. Efforts to collect more reliable nationally representative data, including longitudinal studies, are warranted.