More Restaurant Meals Blamed for Growing Health Risks

Shifting eating habits mean that the proportion of people who eat in restaurants more than once a day rose 6.5 percent from 2012 to 31.7 percent last year, a study by the Korea Centers for Disease Control shows.

The most popular food is Korean and the favorite dish is kimchi jjigae or spicy stew. The organization worries about the high salt content since a serving of kimchi jjigae contains an estimated average of 1,962 mg of salt.

The World Health Organization recommends a limit of 2,000 mg of salt a day. Excessive consumption of salt has been blamed for high blood pressure and cardiovascular diseases.

When it comes to home-delivered food, fried chicken ranked first with 42.6 percent. One serving of spicy-flavored chicken contains 2,126 kcal, while fried chicken contains 1,851 kcal. That means just one serving of the chicken dish already meets the recommended daily calorie consumption of 2,400 kcal for men and 1,900 kcal for women.

Moreover, people usually order chicken at night and eat it just before going to bed, leaving no time for the body to burn off the calories. Fried chicken also contains a lot of salt and fat.

Chun Hae-jin at Ewha Womans University Medical Center said, "Increased consumption of fast food and restaurant meals has changed our eating habits. This is the main reason for the rising risk of high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes."