Current Nutritional Status of Korean Adolescents and Countermeasures

The importance of healthier nutrition and lifestyle in children and adolescents is growing more and more nowadays in the era of exponential increase of chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, hypertension and hyperlipidemia. But the situation of the adolescent nutrition in Korea looks no so good. According to the several recent surveys in Korea, 67% increase in obesity during the past decade was striking. Prevalence of wasting in school girls was increasing, which were accompanied by high prevalence of eating disorder prone factors. Unhealthy eating behavior and selective deficiency of nutrient intake were common. Calcium and potassium were the most common deficient minerals of adolescents, whose usual dietary intake was below Korean Recommended Guidelines. To meet the upcoming challenges of nutrition in adolescence, we should prepare the new multidisciplinary policy including healthier school nutrition environment and enrollment of the health care clinics or hospitals as primary prevention providers. [Korean J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr 2010; 13(Suppl 1): 10∼14]