Korean Job Discussion Forums

meangradin · Joined: 10 Mar 2006

What is with the teeth of some Korean children. I have never seen kids with black teeth or gums before. The absolute worst is the kid with the stalagmites(?) for teeth. You know the ones; they look they have been filed in to a "V" shape. Are these kids eating rocks or something?

As for obesity, Koreans are fooling themselves if they don't think it is a problem here. It is striking to see how body shapes have changed in Korea over a few generations. How many of you have students who are massive (not in a good way) for their age?

yushin · Joined: 14 Oct 2006

People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones...have you looked in the mirror recently?

Yesterday · Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 4:58 am Post subject: Re: Teeth and obesity in Korea

PeteJB · Joined: 06 Jul 2007

My molar are all stained with greyish colour, but the dentist says my teeth are fine.

Homer · Guest

Stains on teeth can be because of anti-biotics (too strong doses)...it can also be hereditary (teeth that are say more beige than white).

However, they seem not to put as much importance on early teeth care here (i.e. baby teeth) as baby teeth fall out and are replaced by adult teeth. Things are changing slowly and information is coming out to the effect that bad baby teeth will affect your adult teeth but these things take time.

As for obesity...they know...but they knew back home too and look what happened and how the problem has exploded.....

princess · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: soul of Asia

The teeth here are pretty bad. I have 7 year olds with a mouth full of caps. If you drink coffee and tea, sip it straight on down, and don't let it linger oin your teeth. That's a good way to keep them white. Same with tomato juice. I don't drink many sodas, and mostly clear ones like cider when I do drink sodas. As long as you sip straight back and don't eat lots of soy-based foods, you should be fine. Discolored teeth are yucky.

Donkey Beer · Joined: 20 Jul 2006

Not only are the teeth discolored, but they're also bone eating teeth. The sad state of the children's physical appearance reflects back on the parents. They need to get their kids on a cleaner diet, make them brush their teeth and send them to the dentist / orthodontist once in a while.

As for being fat, you can blame all the fried chicken outlets for that. I've had kids who have fried chicken BO. It's as if they're being raised on the stuff; don't get me started on fried chicken farts. I've seen kids cry and pretend to vomit during lunch time because the food was not to their liking.

It's pretty clear that fault falls on the lazy parents.

Homer · Guest

Parents are to blame for sure but so is society for letting advetisement run rampant....its a team effort.

Doogie · Joined: 19 Jan 2006 Location: Hwaseong City

Apple · Joined: 29 May 2007 Location: S. Korea

""as for the teeth - many foods make teeth black - regardless of how many times you brush...."" This is totally not true.. you think they are chewing bettle nuts? The toothpaste here is worthless.. has no floride and they eat too much sweetes and ice cream.. plain and simple poor oral hygine.. not the food! Rolling Eyes

PeteJB · Joined: 06 Jul 2007

Guess I know the first product I'll be getting shipped from home then. Toothpaste Laughing

KimchiExplosion · Joined: 01 Jul 2007 Location: Nowhere near Seoul

This seems to be especially prevalent in younger children. Do parents not bother getting cavities in baby teeth fixed here? There is one girl in my school who literally has cavities in all six of her front teeth. It looks horrible.

Fresh Prince · Joined: 05 Dec 2006 Location: The glorious nation of Korea

I think a lot of the obesity problem has to do with sitting for hours and hours at a desk all day studying, rather than being outside playing. A lot of these kids are pushed really hard academically and aren't involved in sports, taekwondo, or any physical activities. They end up not burning off all those calories like they should be doing. Back home, we ate all kinds of junk food when we were kids but didn't become overweight since we were so active all the time and burned off all the calories.

pkang0202 · Joined: 09 Mar 2007

Instead of commenting about the "obesity" in kids, how about the eating disorders among high school to college age students. I know girls who literally starve themselves for days on end because they think they are fat.

All the guys will lose their fat once they do into the army. Don't worry about them. All the girls will starve themselves when they hit high school/college.

All in all, all the fat/obese kids will be skinny by the time they are 24/25 years old.