In the 1980s, plump cheeks and round legs were a symbol of successful child-rearing in South Korea. 

“Your baby should participate in the chubby baby contest” was one of the best compliments a parent could hear.  

Three decades on, those features might attract stares and concern, and their parents would be advised to watch their diet, or even take them to a clinic. 

In a society where fat-shaming is rampant, childhood obesity has also become a telltale sign of parental wealth. The obesity rate has been rising faster among young children from low-income families.

According to recent data from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, some 3.4 percent of children under 6 from the poorest 25 percent of families were obese in 2015, above the overall average of 2.8 percent. The richest 25 percent of families reported a rate of 2.6 percent. Overall, child obesity has doubled in seven years from 1.4 percent in 2008.

“Kids from low-wage families are more exposed to high-calorie food, such as processed foods, fast food, instant noodles and snacks, since they are cheaper and more convenient,” said Cho Eun-kyu from the National Health Insurance Service’s health care division.

The link between obesity and income is found across age and gender, being the most palpable among the young and among girls. Morbid obesity is more strongly tied to financial status, the ministry data shows. 

That obesity tends to run in the family works to reinforce this correlation between income and weight, experts pointed out. Low-wage parents are more likely to be obese themselves, and create an environment where their children are more likely to get fat, they explained. 

Dr. Kim Dae-joong of Ajou University Medical Center pointed to a study which shows when both parents are obese, children are 2.8 times more likely to become obese than the average child from parents of average weight. 

“Studies have shown that family members’ eating habits and diet patterns do have significantly influence on children’s health status, often a deciding factor behind children’s obesity,” said Kim, who is also a policy director at Korean Society for the Study of Obesity. 

Pediatrician Kim Ki-yeong said children of parents who both work often feed themselves on their own. “They are most likely not under adult supervision to regularly exercise or receive timely medical checkups for their health status,” he said. 

Cho of the National Health Insurance Service pointed out the perils of unsupervised, unbalanced diet patterns in children, warning eating habits developed in early age tend to continue into adulthood. 

The medical cost of obesity treatment is another issue. 

Kim Sung-hyun (not his real name), 15, is 165 centimeters tall but weighs 95 kilograms, 40 kilograms heavier than his average peers. He is suffering complications of obesity that include high blood pressure and diabetes and has numerous times been advised to lose weight. 

Yet, the teenager said he has never visited a doctor for medical assistance in weight loss or bariatric surgery. Currently, the national health insurance does not cover costs for obesity-related medical procedures or surgeries. 

Health experts stress that the government should devise a policy measure to help obese children from the low-income families.  

Currently, three different ministries -- the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and Ministry of Education -- have mapped out three different obesity-control policies to run until 2020. 

“The government should integrate them and concentrate more on improving South Korean’s heath,” said Moon Chang-jin, head of NHIS’s obesity control division.

According to a Health Ministry white paper on obesity earlier this month, the authorities will expand support for morbid obesity patients and those with obesity-related disorders and push to revise the national health insurance system to cover medical treatments for obesity patients.

It added that they would continue to promote a healthy diet and recipes using less sugar as well as alternatives, expanding the scope of the processed food subject to mandatory nutrition labeling to cereals, cocoa products, salad dressings and sauces.

By Kim Da-sol (ddd@heraldcorp.com)