South Korea to pay for gym memberships

by Roger Sinasohn (Subscribe to Roger Sinasohn's posts) Oct 5th 2008 1:00PM

Categories: Kids 5-7, Kids 8-11, Health & Safety, Eating & Nutrition

The United States isn't the only country with a problem of childhood obesity, it seems. Apparently, South Korea is battling the problem as well. In fact, the situation is bad enough that the government there is planning to do something about it -- they're going to pay for gym memberships and other weight loss activities.

A changing diet and more sedentary lifestyle has led to a tripling of obesity, according to health ministry official Chun Myung-sook. Kids will get as much as thirty dollars a month to help reduce their weight. "Kids won't be able to waste the money on eating sweets. We will give them electronic vouchers that can only be used in designated places," Chun said.

In 2006, the government spent two trillion dollars on childhood obesity-related costs; spending a bit to reduce that and help kids live healthier lives makes sense.

Source

Comments (1)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

ninainindia 10-06-2008 @ 12:19AM

I don't think gym memberships are needed. Children just need to get out more. Play hide and seek, run around, go the playground. If on top of that they get healthy food from their parents there is no problem.

How To Submit Photos:
If you'd like your children (any age will do!) featured on ParentDish, upload photos into the ParentDish Flickr Pool. Be sure to read our main Flickr page for more information.