Open Access, Peer-reviewed
pISSN 2288-3886
eISSN 2288-3959
    Korean J Nutr. 2012 Jun;45(3):264-273. Korean.
    Published online Jun 28, 2012.
    https://doi.org/10.4163/kjn.2012.45.3.264
    © 2012 The Korean Nutrition Society
    Original Article

    A comparison of food frequency for the elderly regarding different family types - Based on Community Health Survey for 2008 -

    Song Kyoung Shin,1 Hyun-Ja Kim,1 Bo-Youl Choi,1 and Sang Sun Lee2
      • 1Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Hanyang University, Seoul 133-791, Korea.
      • 2Department of Food and Nutrition, Hanyang University, Seoul 133-791, Korea.
    • To whom correspondence should be addressed. (Email: leess@hanyang.ac.kr )
    Received March 26, 2012; Revised April 13, 2012; Accepted May 10, 2012.

    This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

    Abstract

    This study analyzes the food frequency for the elderly regarding different family types and finds the factors for nutritional risk, offers a basic reference for providing nutritional support for them. The study referred to the dietary behavioral survey data of 3,680 elderly people (1652 male and 2028 female) from 21 regions in the northern Kyeonggi province. The data was collected through the method of one-to-one interviews and was a part of the Community Health Survey for 2008 by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). We classified family types as a household for elderly people living alone, a household of elderly people with a spouse, a household of the elderly with unmarried children and a household of the elderly with married children, and as for intakes of foods, the frequencies of taking fruits, vegetables, kimchi, rice with mixed cereals, meat, fish, bean·tofu·soymilk, milk and dairy products, as well as sweet beverages are calculated on a daily basis and skipped meals are calculated on a weekly basis. Elderly women showed lower income, lower education level, higher unemployment rates, and a higher rate of government healthcare subsidies than elderly men. Elderly women tend to live alone and with their children while elderly men tend to live with their spouse. In both males and females, the intake of fruits and vegetables were the least in the elderly living alone, while the elderly with married children ate the most. In both males and females, the household of the elderly living alone ate significantly less amounts of Kimchi than other family types. Elderly people living alone tended to have significantly less meat and fish, especially women. In the case of rice with mixed cereals, the elderly men living alone and the elderly men with unmarried children ate significantly less amounts than the elderly men living with a spouse. The elderly men living alone took significantly less milk and dairy products than the elderly men with unmarried children while the elderly women living with a spouse took significantly less milk and dairy products than the elderly women with married children. With regards to the frequency of meal-skipping, the elderly living alone had the highest frequency for skipping meals. From this result, having various foods is difficult for the elderly living alone. Furthermore, the elderly living with unmarried children demonstrated a low quality of dietary life compared to those of married children. Hence, it can be concluded that social support is important in order for the elderly to have a balanced diet.

    Keywords
    family types; household; food frequency; elderly

    Tables

    Table 1
    General characteristics of the elderly subjects

    Table 2
    Distribution of elderly subjects in variables associated with family type

    Table 3
    Food frequency of elderly men by different family type in multivariate analysis

    Table 4
    Food frequency of elderly women by different family type in multivariate analysis

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    MeSH Terms
    Aged
    Beverages
    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.)
    Child
    Dairy Products
    Delivery of Health Care
    Diet
    Edible Grain
    Family Characteristics
    Female
    Fruit
    Health Surveys
    Humans
    Korea
    Male
    Meals
    Meat
    Milk
    Nutritional Support
    Single Person
    Spouses
    Unemployment
    Vegetables
    Metrics
    Share
    Tables
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