hankyoreh

Western influence on the South Korean diet over the past fifty years has reduced the percentage of calories ingested through grains nearly by half, from 82% to 43%, while the percentage received from meat has jumped six times from 2% to 12%, a study shows.

The results of a 50-year study that National Geographic carried out about changes in the diets of countries around the world from 1961 to 2011, which were recently made available online, show that pork is the meat from which Koreans derive the most energy (144 calories).

South Koreans’ average daily intake of pork per capita is 85g, representing a 12-fold increase over the 50 years of the study. In addition, the percentage of calories provided by the consumption of sugars and vegetable oil increased 6.5 times, from 4% to 26%.

The average daily caloric intake went up 55.6% from 2,140 calories in 1961 to 3,329 calories in 2011. This is much higher than 2,400 calories, what the Korea Nutrition Society announced in 2010 was the amount needed each day by Korean adult males (30-49 years old).

“South Korea experienced a rapid shift in diets beginning in the 1970s,” National Geographic wrote.

In contrast, the diet in North Korea has barely changed over the past 50 years, the study showed. In 1961, North Koreans received around three fourths (71%) of their daily calorie intake from grains. As of 2011, their dependence on grains remained high, at 63%.

Nor was there a big difference in the daily average caloric consumption during that period, which only edged up from 1,878 to 2,103. “Between 1989 and 1997, when North Korea was suffering a great famine, consumption of meat plunged by 65%,” National Geographic said.

According to National Geographic’s calculations, the average diet for humans alive today is composed of grains (45%), sugars and vegetable fat (20%), farm produce (11%), meat (9%), and eggs and dairy (8%). Compared with 50 years ago, the percentage of grains has gone down four percentage points, while meat and sugar have gone up three and four percentage points, respectively. The average daily intake has increased 30%, from 2,194 calories to 2,870 calories.

The country with the greatest daily intake of calories among the 22 countries covered in the survey was the US, with Americans consuming 3,640 calories a day. The daily per capita calorie intake for Chinese showed the greatest rate of increase among the countries surveyed, rising from 1,415 to 3,073 calories.

By Kwak No-pil, senior staff writer

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