Fast-food consumption among elementary and secondary school students in South Korea rose in 2014 from four years earlier, a government poll showed Wednesday.

According to the annual survey conducted by the Ministry of Education from April to June last year, the rate of students who ate fast food more than once a week surged 10 percentage points last year from 2010.

The percentage of obese children dropped slightly in 2014 from the previous year but still reached 15 percent, and the number of students who skipped breakfast also increased in 2014.

According to the survey of 82,581 students attending 756 elementary, middle and high schools around the country, 61.4 percent, 72.1 percent and 74.3 percent of the students of each level answered that they ate junk food such as hamburgers, pizza and fried food more than once a week. (Yonhap)