South KoreaNames: John Alexander Ferguson, Elaine

Hsieh, Shuhan Zhan, Emily Takeuchi, Minjueng Ma, Lumeng Bai, Brett Jackson, Ho

Ting Leung

bibimbap

Side dishes

kimbap

Soju

➢ Diet primarily made up of rice, legumes, meats, seafoods and vegetables

➢ Kimchi used commonly, a fermented vegetable dish

➢ Wide variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks

➢ Frequent use of condiments to season food

(Ma, 2016).

Quick Overview

Environmental FactorsGeographic Setting and Environment

Climate supports agriculture: cold winters, warm summers and long, pleasant autumns

Main rivers (the Han and the Kum) help to provide adequate water supply for the agricultural lands to grow rice and grains

The seas surrounding the Korean peninsula—the Yellow and East China seas, and the Sea of Japan---provide plenty of seafoods.

Koreans eat many preserved foods because these had to be made for keeping over wintertime.

Chinese invasions: 1) Foods that evolved in China were passed on to Korea and then to Japan. Rice, cabbage, domesticated animals were first domesticated in China. 2) Eating with chopsticks from small bowls was initially developed in China in the Han Dynasty (about 200 B.C.-about 200 A.D.)

Socio-CulturalHot foods believed to restore Qi or “chi” (energy flow)

Long noodles symbolize long life and good health

Buddhist traditions have strong influences on Korean cuisine/diet

Ritual food only eaten during those times in the past

Socioeconomic

Socioeconomic Transition

PhysicalActivity

Transition

Dietary Transition

Nutrition Transition

Body Weight Transition

Socio-economic transition: 1) The GNP of South Korea increased more than 50-fold over the 24 years, from $66 billion to $3308 billion. 2) The proportion of the population living in urban areas also grew more than 30% from 1970s-1990s.3) The education level increased: people who had high school diploma increased 24% from 1970s-1990s.

Physical activity transition: Physical activities decrease→ no. of people in the primary industry sector (agriculture, fishing and forestry) decreased , while the number of people in the tertiary industry sector (service industries) reached more than half the working population in South Korea.→ no. of driver’s licenses started to go up from 1978 and increased steadily from then on.

Dietary transition: 1) Consumed more animal foods and less plant foods, while less dependent on cereals as a staple source of energy. 2) More protein and fat were consumed from both animal and plant foods. Total protein consumption per capita per day increased steadily over the years, and the increase was primarily from animal protein.

Socioeconomic in Detail

Socioeconomic Transition

Physical Activity Transition

Dietary Transition

Nutrition transition: The dietary transition led to the nutrition transition, represented by increased energy from protein and fat and decreased energy from carbohydrates.

Bodyweight transition: The average BMI of 17-year-old adolescents increased steadily over this time period.

Socioeconomic cont.

Pokorski, R. in the Journal of insurance medicine

The World Health Organization estimated that 45% of Korean men and 54% of

women were overweight in 2005, and the percentages are expected to increase to

66% and 67%, respectively, by 2015.

Socioeconomic-Health Care Costs

Nutritional Status of Population➢ One study shows that even with an increase in meat consumption and

average purchasing power, consumption of fat did not increase (Kim, Moon, & Popkin, 2000).

➢ Study also stated obesity did not increase significantly although this was in 2000 (Kim, Moon, & Popkin, 2000).

➢ However, another study shows worse results as over 32% of adult Koreans were overweight in 2013 and over 4% were obese in 2012, a 2.5% increase from 2002 (Lee, 2015).

➢ “Korean Paradox” refers to South Korea’s lower than average developed nation’s obesity but similar diabetes rates though this could be due to high levels of smoking and sedentary lifestyles more than food (Mendosa, 2010).

➢ Nearly 11% of Koreans had diabetes in 2013 with most being type 2 as well as 25% having pre-diabetes/hyperglycemia (Korean Diabetes Association, 2015).

Q: How does Korean food in America differ from that in Korea? A: Sweeter, Korean food is not usually sweet. Portion size is much larger.

Q: Why do you think it’s sweeter? A: Well, I’ve heard that the sugar consumption level in America is much higher, that might be an influencer.

Q: Alcohol consumption in Korea is fairly high, even compared to that in America. Why do you think this is true?

A: Drinking games are very common in Korean colleges, and are used as a social

Interview ...tool to get to know each other better. Drinks are also popular amongst korean business people for meetings.

Q: Do you know anyone in your family that has diabetes?A: Yes, my grandfather has diabetes.

Q: Do you think religion is a strong factor in influencing the Korean diet? Like there is a high percentage of buddhism but pork is a major meat in your diet.A: Not really... Maybe in the past, but there are more christians right now, so I don’t really think buddhism affects.

APA Sources1. Kim, S., Moon, S., and Popkin, B. M. (2000). The nutrition transition in south korea. Am J Clin Nutr, 71(1), 44-53. Retrieved from

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/71/1/44.full

2. Korean Diabetes Association. (2015). Korean diabetes fact sheet 2015. Korean Diabetes Association, retrieved from http://www.diabetes.or.kr/bbs/index.html?code=e_resource&category=1

3. Lee, C. (August 13, 2015). Obesity emerges as major health threat in south korea. The Korea Herald, retrieved from http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20150813001101

4. Lee, S. K., & Sobal, J. (2003). Socio-economic, dietary, activity, nutrition and body weight transitions in south korea. Public Health Nutrition, 6(07), 665-674, retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14552667

5. Ma, M. (April 10, 2016). Interview with minjueng ma. Personal Experience.

6. Mendosa, D. (October 29, 2010). Diabetes in korea: less obesity but similar diabetes rates. HealthCentral, retrieved from http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/17/123246/korean-paradox/

7. Podberscek, A.L. (2009). Good to pet and to eat: The keeping and consuming of dogs and cats in South Korea. Journal of Social Issues, 65, 615-632. retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1540-4560.2009.01616.x/epdf

8. Ferdman, R.A., King R. (February 2, 2014). South Koreans drink twice as much liquor as Russians and more than four times as much as Americans. Quartz, retrieved from http://qz.com/171191/south-koreans-drink-twice-as-much-liquor-as-russians-and-more-than-four-times-as-much-as-americans/

9. Pokorski, R. (2010). Effect of increasing body weight on morbidity and mortality in South Korea. Journal of insurance medicine (New York, NY), 42(2-4), 78-84.