Drinking goes up as smoking goes down

Fewer South Koreans are smoking, but more are drinking hard, feeling fat and getting depressed, according to a story in the Korea Joongang Daily quoting figures from a government poll.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today announced the results of its 2013 Community Health Research poll, which showed, in part, that the percentage of smokers among the respondents nationwide had decreased from 24.5 percent to 24.2 percent during the past year.

Smoking among men fell from 46.4 percent to 45.8 percent during the same period.

But the rate of high-risk drinking has increased. High-risk drinking for men is defined as drinking more than seven alcoholic drinks, such as soju, two times a week or more. For women, it’s defined as drinking more than five drinks twice a week.

Nationwide, the rate of high-risk drinking increased from 16 percent in 2012 to 18.6 percent in 2013.

The poll surveyed the habits of 220,000 South Koreans older than 18 nationwide. It included 258 questions about smoking, drinking, exercise, safety, food, obesity, mental health and health checkups.

The survey started six years ago and is conducted annually in 253 cities.