Over 90 percent of female students and 80 percent of male students in Korea do not get sufficient exercise, a study showed Wednesday, raising alarm over the physical well-being of students overburdened with pressure of studying.

According to a report by Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 8 percent of female students engaged in a physical activity ― enough to result in elevated heart rate or shortness of breath ― for more than five hours a week. The figure for their male counterpart was 19.2 percent.

The lack of exercise is largely attributed to the teenagers workload. Korean students spend 49.43 hours a week studying, which is about 15 hours more than the OECD average, according to the National Youth Policy Institute.

Even students who manage to find time to work out have trouble finding a place to exercise. A report by Korea Educational Development Institute showed that the average space available to Korean middle school students for exercise was about one-third of the space provided for Japanese students.

The KCDC report also showed that 14 percent of male students in secondary education smoke cigarettes at least once a month. It marked a modest drop from 14.3 percent in 2005, but also showed that 24.5 percent of male high school seniors smoked.

The smoking rate for girls, however, has more than halved in the past decade from 8.9 percent to 4 percent. Among OECD countries, 16 percent of boys and girls aged 15 smoke every week.

In addition to smoking, teens’ diets added to health concerns.

About 28.5 percent of students skipped breakfast, a rising trend since 2011. The proportion of students who consume fast food and soft drinks more than three times a day has also increased to 15.6 percent and 26 percent, respectively.

The report showed students were suffering mentally as well, with 37 percent saying they were regularly stressed out and 26.7 percent saying that they “felt overwhelming despair for at least two weeks in the past year.”

The Education Ministry said that it would come up with measures to curb underage smoking, including barring them from buying cigarettes as well as antismoking education.

The KCDC will hold a forum on teenage health next Tuesday, where experts such as Carmen Audera-Lopez from the World Health Organization will discuss ways to reduce teenage smoking.

By Yoon Min-sik (minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)