Body Image, BMI and Smoking in Korean Adolescents: Results of a Nationwide Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey

Adolescent smoking is a major health problem in Korea, the country with the highest rate of adolescent smoking worldwide. In 2013, according to the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey, a national survey conducted jointly between the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Education, the adolescent smoking rate was 9.7%. Although this figure is still high, there has been a steady decline since the record high of 13.3% in 2007. When viewed according to sex, girls exhibit a much lower rate of smoking compared to boys, 4.6% and 14.4%, respectively (Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013). In Korea, however, females tend to be reluctant to disclose their smoking habits; therefore, it is likely that the actual smoking rate for girls is higher than reported (Suh, 2011). The 2013 survey was conducted at a time when tobacco sales to Department of Medicine, 1Graduate School of Medicine, 2College of Medicine, 3Graduate School of Public Health, 4Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea *For correspondence: [email protected] Abstract