gettyimagesbank

One in six to seven Korean women in their 20s are underweight, and nearly half of women of underweight or normal weight in the same age group still try to lose even more weight, according to a research paper published by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), Monday.

In contrast, the ratio of men in their 30s and 40s trying to lose weight has decreased despite the increasing prevalence of obesity.

The paper released by the KDCA showed that 15.1 percent of women aged between 19 and 29 were underweight in 2021 with a BMI (body mass index) less than 18.5.

BMI is defined as body mass in kilograms divided by height in meters.

The ratio of underweight women of the same age stood at 14.8 percent between 2019 and 2021, up from the 12.4 percent tallied between 2016-2018.

About 16.2 percent of these underweight women and 53.9 percent of women of normal weight attempted to lose weight. When the two figures were combined, nearly half, or 46 percent, of women of underweight or normal weight, still tried to lose weight.

“More young women tend to consider themselves overweight due to social expectations that highlight skinny bodies, which induces indiscriminative weight loss,” the paper said.

“Repeated weight loss attempts by people of underweight or normal weight could adversely affect their cardiovascular system and increase the likelihood of malnutrition, anemia and osteoporosis.”

Regarding the overall picture, 54.6 percent of men and 62.9 percent of women who were classified as obese, with a BMI over 25, attempted to lose weight between 2019 and 2021.

The prevalence of obesity has been on the rise among men in their 30s and 40s, from 44.9 percent and 42.2 percent during the 2013-2015 period, respectively, to 52 percent and 51.1 percent during the 2019-2021 period, respectively.

The ratio of obese men trying to lose weight decreased from 57.5 percent to 56.9 percent in their 30s, and from 61.9 percent to 54.7 percent in their 40s.

“Attempts to lose weight decreased among obese men, while more young women made such attempts even though they were underweight,” the paper said.

“Low body weight before becoming pregnant could cause habitual miscarriage and other negative results. Education about healthy bodies and relevant publicity activities through mass media is necessary, so a social atmosphere that induces weight loss does not last.”