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Original article Trends in socioeconomic inequalities in obesity among Korean adolescents: the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey (KYRBS) 2006 to 2020
Eunji Kim1orcid , Ga Bin Lee1orcid , Dong Keon Yon2orcid , Hyeon Chang Kim1,3orcid
Epidemiol Health 2022;e2023033
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4178/epih.e2023033 [Accepted]
Published online: March 7, 2023
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1Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
2Center for Digital Health, Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
3Institute for Innovation in Digital Healthcare, Yonsei University Health System, Seoul, Korea
4Institute for Innovation in Digital Healthcare, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea
Corresponding author:  Hyeon Chang Kim,
Email: hckim@yuhs.ac
Received: 16 December 2022   • Revised: 9 February 2023   • Accepted: 17 February 2023
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Abstract

Objectives
This study investigated recent trends in the prevalence of obesity among South Korean adolescents and explored socioeconomic disparities in obesity.
Methods
This study used annual self-reported data on height, weight, and socioeconomic information from the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey from 2006 to 2020. With a 95.8% response rate, the sample consisted of 818,210 adolescents. Obesity prevalence was calculated according to 4 socioeconomic indicators (household income, father’s educational attainment, mother’s educational attainment, and urbanicity). Socioeconomic inequality was quantified using the relative index of inequality (RII).
Results
The overall prevalence of obesity increased, doubling from 5.9% in 2006 to 11.7% in 2020. Boys and high-school students showed a higher prevalence. The RIIs in household income and parental educational attainments significantly increased with time, indicating a growing inequality in obesity. Socioeconomic disadvantages had a greater influence on obesity among girls. The most recent RII values for boys were 1.25 for income, 1.79 for the father’s education, and 1.45 for the mother’s education, whereas the corresponding values for girls were 2.49, 3.17, and 2.62, respectively.
Conclusions
These findings highlight growing inequalities in adolescent obesity according to household income and parental educational attainments, especially for girls and middle schoolers.

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