The obesity rate among South Korea’s elementary and middle school students has been increasing, according to government data, possibly due to a lack of sleep and physical activity and the consumption of more unhealthy food.

According to the Education Ministry’s 2017 statistics on student health, the proportion of overweight people aged 6 to 18 was 17.3 percent last year, up 0.8 percentage point from a year ago and up 6.1 percentage points from 11.2 percent in 2008.

The data also showed that students were consuming more fast food and fewer milk products, as well as skipping breakfast more frequently.