The obesity rate among Korean men sharply increased last year with more than half of men in their 30s and 40s found to be obese.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency(KDCA) on Tuesday released the findings of its 2020 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

The annual survey examines ten-thousand people over one year of age based on some 250 health indicators such as chronic illness, smoking, drinking and nutrition.

In the latest report, obesity and mental health-related indices, such as depression, were worse off than pre-pandemic levels.

Obesity increased in both adult men and women. The adult male obesity rate jumped from 41-point-eight percent in 2019 to 48 percent last year, the highest since the survey began in 1998. The obesity rate among women increased slightly from 25 percent to 27-point-seven percent. 

Meanwhile, the smoking rate among men fell one-point-seven percentage points last year to a record low of 34 percent. The smoking rate among women remained in the six percent range, not changing from 2019.