Male and female students experience vastly different levels of stress stemming from physical appearance, a survey by the Seoul City government showed Monday.

In the survey commission by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and conducted by the Seoul Foundation of Women and Family, 6,847 combined youth and guardians under the age of 18 residing in the capital were asked a slew of questions on when they felt discriminated against and the source of their stress, among other questions, from Oct. 2 to Dec. 27, 2019.

Female and male youth showed the biggest gap in stress from weight and facial appearance.

The survey found that 36.8 percent of female youth felt stressed due to their weight compared to 19.8 percent of male youth.

A total 27.2 percent of female respondents said their facial features were another source of frustration, while the figure dropped to 11.1 percent among male respondents, it added.

Homework and exams were the biggest source of stress for both boys and girls, but even in this category more than half of female youth replied they were stressed, compared to some 45 percent of male respondents.

The ratio of female and male youth who answered they were stressed due to pressure from their guardians to excel academically turned out to be similar at 26.5 percent and 22.1 percent, respectively, according to the survey.

The survey revealed that female youth experienced greater discrimination of over 10 percentage points than their male counterparts in three categories: gender, age and academic achievements.

About 1 in 5 female youth, or some 20 percent, said they were concerned over being the target of sex crimes, compared to some 3 percent of male youth.

By Kim Bo-gyung (lisakim425@heraldcorp.com)