Nutrition and diet advice

You can learn to stay healthy while adapting to Korean food.

Where to get advice

1. Public health centre nutrition counselling — run locally, often free.
2. Hospital nutrition departments — linked to treatment for diabetes, hypertension, kidney disease.
3. Health promotion centres — run by local authorities: weight, blood pressure, blood sugar.
4. Follow-up after a national health check — you are referred if findings are abnormal. See health-checkup.
5. Family centres — some run nutrition and cooking programmes for multicultural families.

When to seek advice

• Abnormal blood sugar, blood pressure or cholesterol at a check-up. See chronic-disease.
• Sudden weight gain or loss
• Diet during pregnancy or breastfeeding. See prenatal-care.
• Worries about a child's growth or fussy eating. See child-health-check.
• Kidney or liver disease requiring dietary control.

Common issues living in Korea

• Sodium (salt) intake — high in soups, stews and kimchi. Not drinking all the broth already reduces it.
• Irregular meals — especially on shift or night work. See night-shift-health.
• Alcohol — affecting both calories and health. See alcohol-support.
• Difficulty finding ingredients from home — see home-country-food.

Where to go

• Your local public health centre (nutrition counselling)
• 129 Health and Welfare Call Centre
• Hospital nutrition departments
• 1577-1000 National Health Insurance Service (check-ups)
• Local family centres

Questions people ask

Counselling in Korean is difficult. Request interpretation in advance. 1345 or a local foreign-resident support centre can help.

There are foods I can't eat for religious reasons. Say so in advance and you can be advised on a suitable diet. See halal-food.

Is there a charge? Health centre counselling is generally free. Hospital nutrition consultations may incur a fee.

I want to lose weight. Unverified diet pills and procedures are dangerous. Get advice from a health centre or hospital first.

Take care

Never buy "weight-loss pills" through private sales. You cannot know the ingredients and the risk is serious. The same goes for unidentified health foods sold online. Get medicines only from pharmacies and hospitals. See medicine-safety.

Related

health-checkup · chronic-disease · exercise-health · alcohol-support · medicine-safety

Source

Korea Health Promotion Institute www.khepi.or.kr / As of 2026-08