Drinking rate among female Seoulites in 20s soars

March 31, 2015
(NEWSis)

The statistics on health released by the Seoul Metropolitan Government showed 64.8 percent of female Seoulites aged between 20-29 drank alcohol at least once a month as of 2013, up from 55.2 percent in 2008. (Chungha soju ad / NEWSis)

SEOUL, March 31 (Yonhap) — Twenty-something women in Seoul registered the steepest growth in the drinking rate compared with other age and gender groups during the 2008-2013 period, new data showed Tuesday.

The statistics on health released by the Seoul Metropolitan Government showed 64.8 percent of female Seoulites aged between 20-29 drank alcohol at least once a month as of 2013, up from 55.2 percent in 2008.

It also showed that about 10 percent of 20-something female citizens went binge drinking every month.

During the same five-year period, the drinking rate among female citizens in the capital overall rose from 40.8 percent to 45.1 percent, registering a faster growth in comparison with their male counterparts.

The drinking rate among all adult Seoul citizens also climbed to 60.7 percent in 2013 from 57.7 percent five years earlier, the city data showed.

The city statistics, meanwhile, showed that 23.2 percent of adults in Seoul were obese as of 2014, up from 20.6 percent posted in 2008.

Only 16 percent of female citizens were obese as of last year while 30.6 percent of male citizens were categorized as overweight, the data said.

The life expectancy of female Seoulites averaged 86 years while the corresponding figure for male citizens stood at 79.7 years as of 2014, according to the data.