Clinical Nutrition Research

The Korean Society of Clinical Nutrition (한국임상영양학회)
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Comparison of Health Status and Life Satisfaction According to Food Security in Single-Person Households of Elderly Population

  • Dong Hoon Jung (Department of Gerontology, Age Tech-Service Convergence Major, Graduate School of East-West Medical Science, Kyung Hee University) ;
  • Jae Won Han (Department of Gerontology, Age Tech-Service Convergence Major, Graduate School of East-West Medical Science, Kyung Hee University) ;
  • Wonha Kim (Department of Electronic Engineering Building, Age Tech-Service Convergence Major, Graduate School of East-West Medical Science, Kyung Hee University) ;
  • Hee-Sook Lim (Department of Gerontology, Age Tech-Service Convergence Major, Graduate School of East-West Medical Science, Kyung Hee University)
  • Received : 2024.01.12
  • Accepted : 2024.01.26
  • Published : 2024.01.31
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Abstract

This study analyzed the 2019 Community Health Survey data to compare and analyze the health levels and life satisfaction of single-person elderly households based on food security. The final study subjects were 15,606 single-person elderly individuals aged 65 and above. These subjects were classified based on their response to food security into three groups: food sufficient-diverse, food sufficient-not diverse, and food insufficient. The study results showed that the proportion of the food insufficient group among single-person elderly households was 7.4% for men and 10.6% for women, with a slightly higher rate for female elderly. Both male and female elderly over 80 years of age, with low education levels, and basic living support recipients showed significantly higher proportions in the sufficient-not diverse and food insufficient groups. For male elderly, significant differences were observed in subjective health status and oral health level in the food insufficient group, and for female elderly, stress levels also showed significant differences. Life satisfaction scores were generally lower for female elderly compared to male, and significant differences were found in both male and female elderly based on food security. Common factors that significantly influence life satisfaction among single-person elderly households, both male and female, include food security, subjective health status, and living environment satisfaction, with food security being the most impactful factor. The study suggests that it is necessary to include these significant factors in the development of various social activity programs, such as dietary programs, to enhance life satisfaction and food security of single-person elderly households.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This research was supported by BK21 plus program AgeTech-Service Convergence Major through the National Research Foundation (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education of Korea (5120200313836).

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