SEOUL, December 8 (AJP) - Although conventional cigarette smoking has decreasing, the rising use of e-cigarettes means that overall tobacco consumption is not declining as much as it could be, a new survey suggests.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency surveyed 230,000 adults between May and July and released its findings on Monday.
According to the survey, the smoking rate for traditional cigarettes dropped to 17.9 percent, down 1 percentage point from the previous year. But the proportion of e-cigarette smokers rose 0.6 percentage points to 9.3 percent, causing overall tobacco consumption to fall by only 0.5 percentage points to 22.1 percent.
By region, North Chungcheong Province had the highest rate of tobacco smokers, while Sejong had the lowest.
Alcohol consumption showed a slight decrease as well. The proportion of people who drink at least once a month dropped 1.2 percentage points to 57.1 percent.
The proportion of high-risk drinkers, those who consume seven or more drinks (for men) or five or more (for women) at least twice per week also fell slightly to 12 percent.
Obesity rates, however, continue to rise. The proportion of people with a BMI of 25 or higher increased 1 percentage point to 35.4 percent. Despite more people trying to lose or maintain weight, those efforts have failed to curb rising obesity rates.
Walking and moderate physical activity have seen a slight decline, with walking at 49.2 percent and moderate activity at 26 percent, suggesting a drop in daily activity levels.
More people were diagnosed with chronic diseases such as hypertension (21.2 percent) and diabetes (9.6 percent), although treatment rates have remained stable at around 93 percent.
More than half of respondents were aware of the symptoms of heart attacks and the signs of strokes, though the agency stressed the need for enhanced public education to further boost awareness.
Those suffering from depression dropped to 5.9 percent, a slight decrease from last year, while stress levels saw a slight increase to 23.9 percent.
* This article, published by Economic Daily, was translated by AI and edited by AJP.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.