Smoking and drinking among Korean adolescents rose sharply from sixth grade through the final year of high school, according to new government data highlighting a steady decline in healthy habits as students grow older. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency released findings Monday from its Korean Youth Health Behavior Panel Survey, which has tracked a panel of 5,051 students who were sixth graders in 2019 for a 10-year period through 2028 to study behavioral changes and their contributing factors. Monday's release, covering the 2019-2025 period, drew on 3,756 students and compiled cumulative statistics on smoking, drinking and eating habits. The data showed a sharp rise in tobacco product use as students advanced through school. The share of students who had ever used a tobacco product rose to 11.93 percent by their final year of high school from 0.35 percent in sixth grade, up 11.58 percentage points over six years. The increase was steeper among male students, up 15.47 percentage points to 16.02 percent, than among female students, up 7.5 percentage points to 7.64 percent. Th