We said this a few months ago in South Korea when they started talking openly about a “national emergency.” The country is facing a deep demographic crisis, which is the worst considering that it has the lowest birth rate in the world and the same is what is pushing it to take desperate measures. A scenario in which children are a “precious asset” that must be taken care of, and the outlook for their future is so challenging that they do not hesitate to enroll them in academies or medicate them if necessary, so that they can be more competitive. they are “not enough.”

News. A few days ago, Nikkei talked about a growing problem among South Korean society. It all starts from a basic idea: the deep-rooted belief in South Korean society that tall people have a better chance of succeeding in life.

Problem? This idea is leading parents to turn to hormone treatments, supplements, and other tools in hopes of raising taller children. An obsession with little ones’ size is fueling concerns about what some see as an unhealthy obsession with appearance.

Belief. The idea that taller people are more likely to be successful in South Korea stems from a combination of social and cultural factors. One of these is that in a rapidly developing country, the perception that height is associated with good health and nutrition may reflect socioeconomic status.

Additionally, in South Korea’s competitive work environment, physical attributes such as height are viewed as a valuable asset in certain professional sectors, reinforcing the idea that being tall can facilitate success in life and business.

An example. Kim Shin-young, 43, who lives in southern Seoul, shared his 11-year-old son’s experience with non-refundable growth hormone injections that started two and a half years ago. The child was prescribed Growthtropin II from Dong-A ST. Despite the financial burden of approximately 7 million won annually, Kim gives her son injections every night, six days a week.

The little boy’s initial height rose from about 10 centimeters below average for his age in early 2021 to about six centimeters by the end of 2023. The cost of the drug, which can reach 10 million won (about 6,700 euros) annually), poses a significant financial challenge for parents that can last six or seven years.

According to Kim, she abandoned seeking compensation out of fear that the “sick” label on her son might affect future job opportunities or health insurance subscriptions.

Inside the story. Information that emerged at the end of last year raised alarm about the dynamics taking place. Reimbursement for growth hormone therapy in Korea is limited to cases of short stature due to pediatric growth hormone deficiency, Turner syndrome, pediatric chronic kidney disease, Prader-Willi syndrome, and Noonan syndrome. Children with any of these conditions only need to pay 5% of the total cost, with the rest paid by the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS).

This translates into annual medical expenses of approximately 350,000 won ($264) to 500,000 won ($377) per child for growth hormone injections. It turns out that 97% of these growth hormone injections were prescribed without reimbursement. In other words, most injections were given to healthy children simply to increase their height, costing up to about 10 million won ($7,548) annually.

More worrying data. According to figures obtained by Democratic Party of Korea Representative Kim Young-joo from the Ministry of Food and Safety, 10.66 million 24 types of growth hormone injections were prescribed in 5,761 medical centers worldwide in the past three years. .

Only 300,000 of these injections were given to diagnosed patients. The rest: Apparently healthy children, but “short” or shorter than the “standard” their parents expect.

There is no science. Contrary to the nation’s widespread belief regarding the effectiveness of growth hormone injections, a study by the National Evidence-Based Health Collaborative Agency (NECA) shows otherwise. Yang Sei-won, an endocrinologist and professor emeritus at Seoul National University Hospital, emphasized that growth hormone injections do not guarantee height increase.

He noted that clinical trials showed an initial increase in growth rate followed by a decrease, with possible side effects such as muscle pain, edema, hypothyroidism and pancreatitis. In addition, the expert explained that other side effects may include gynecomastia, overdevelopment of breast tissue in children, difficulty breathing and serious allergic reactions such as hives.

Another study conducted in the United States analyzed 11,000 children. It was determined that the risk of developing diabetes in the future is 8.5 times higher in people who receive growth hormone treatment without having a growth hormone deficiency, and that the drug carries risks such as scoliosis, hip joint dislocation, temporary diabetes, headache, edema and vomiting.

Misleading advertisements. This is the other leg that the government is currently trying to pursue. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced in June that it would co-operate with 17 local governments to crack down on false or exaggerated advertising for growth hormone treatments, at a time when the private market for height-enhancing products was still growing.

The news meant that hospitals, pharmacies and pharmaceutical companies found to be exaggerating or falsely advertising information would be subject to guidance and administrative measures. This belief, which we mentioned at the beginning, has led to the confusion of treatments applied only to children with medical deficiencies as solutions to average short-term problems.

Have the best child. Essentially, it’s the same problem we talked about about enrolling kids in academies outside of school to make them “smarter” than others. Medication is also a symptom, and the most extreme is South Korean parents’ obsession with giving their children the best future in an environment where, paradoxically, they are increasingly born less.

Image | Dall-E/Xataka

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