Anthropometric changes in children and adolescents from 1965 to 2005 in Korea

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the secular growth changes in Korean children and adolescents during the last four decades. In 2005, 68,790 boys and 62,557 girls were recruited for this study across the nation in 2005. Anthropometric data (weight, height, etc.) were measured. We compared the results of previous nationwide growth studies with this study. The results of this survey indicate that the growth and developmental status of Korean children and adolescents has been changed substantially compared with those in 1965, 1975, 1984, and 1997. The data presented in this study show a distinct secular increase in growth in body height and weight of Korean children and adolescents spanning this period. A nationwide survey every 5 years would be beneficial to establish a reference standard for the growth of children and adolescents according to the socioeconomic, environmental, and nutritional changes.

Is the secular trend in height delaying overweight rise among adolescents? The Brazilian case

“…In Brazil we have seen a wavering pattern in both trends. A similar wavering pattern for height and body mass was also described in South Korea from 1965 to 2005 (25) . In Poland, taking into account an even larger time period, 1938 to 2010, wavering trends for height and BMI growth were similar.…”

Trends in Growth Status among Schoolchildren in Sendai, Japan, 1994-2003: Leveling-Off of Mean Body Height and Weight

“…Accordingly, coefficient means the increase in mean height (cm) or mean weight (kg) per year. Freedman et al 2000;Loesch et al 2000;Murata 2000;Hulens et al 2001;Krawczynski et al 2003;Padez 2003;Zellner et al 2004;Kim et al 2008). The results of these reports do not necessarily match in all details because of the different geographical regions, different age groups, different sample sizes and so on, but the general conclusion appears to be consistent.…”

Fifty years of child height and weight in Japan and South Korea: Contrasting secular trend patterns analyzed by SITAR

“…The data represent periods , i.e., children measured in particular years, not cohorts of children born in the same year. South Korean data were available only for the years 1965, 1975, 1984, 1997, and 2005 (J. Y. Kim et al, 2008), while the Japanese data came from annual National Nutrition Surveys carried out between 1949 and 2011 by the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare (latterly Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare)—see Funatogawa, Funatogawa, Nakao, Karita, and Yano (2009) for details. The South Korean surveys were very large, with each age group mean based on 15,000 to 60,000 children, while the Japanese samples were much smaller, ranging in size from 500 to 3500 for all ages 1–20 years.…”

“…However they, like the Japanese, have experienced a steep increase in height in recent decades, and they are now taller than the Japanese (J. Y. Kim et al, 2008; Mori, 2017). Furthermore, South Koreans are among the tallest peoples in the Asian continent (Schwekendiek & Jun, 2010), and South Korean women are 20 cm taller now than they were a century ago, a larger increase over the period than any other group (NCD Risk Factor Collaboration, 2016).…”