Over the past decade, levels of physical activity among adolescents in the country have increased; however, they are still significantly less active compared to their counterparts around the world.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(KCDC) on Thursday published its first report on youth physical activity trends, based on its annual youth health behavior survey, and found that the rate of physical activity among male adolescents increased from 20-point-five percent in 2014 to 25-point-one percent in 2024.

This was nearly three times the rate for female adolescents, which rose from seven-point-four percent to eight-point-nine percent over the same period.

When looking at different age groups, the physical activity rate for middle school students increased from 16-point-eight percent in 2015 to 21-point-five percent in 2024, and for high school students it increased from nearly 12 percent to nearly 13 percent.

As of last year, the percentage of male teens who practiced strength-building exercises such as push-ups for more than three days a week stood at 37-point-six percent, whereas only 10-point-seven percent of female teens did so.

According to the World Health Organization’s comparison of levels of physical inactivity among adolescents in 146 countries in 2016, the rate of physical inactivity among South Korean adolescents was 94-point-2 percent, the highest among the countries surveyed, and 13-point-two percentage points higher than the overall average of 81 percent.

Compared with the results of a two-year survey of adolescents in the United States, the rate of physical activity of South Korean adolescents in 2023 was 32-point-nine percentage points lower than that of American adolescents, whose physical activity rate stood at 46-point-three percent.

According to the KCDC, the stress perception rate of South Korean adolescents who engaged in physical activities was 38-point-nine percent, but for those who did not it was 41-point-six percent, highlighting the importance of engaging in physical activities in daily life to improve wellness.

Jee Young-mee, the chief of the agency, stressed the need for change as well as the attention and efforts of schools, families and communities to increase physical activity among adolescents.