Classification of elderly households based on diet-related style and analysis of their characteristics

The objectives of this study were to classify the types of elderly households and to compare the characteristics of their dietary lifestyle. Panel data surveyed by Korea Rural Economic Institute (KREI) for Food Purchase Attitudes over three years (2019 - 2021) were utilized for the analysis. Through a factor analysis, five common factors were extracted out of 19 basic variables related to dietary style, which indicate two kinds of consumer competency index (safe diet, traditional diet) and three kinds of purchase frequency (healthy food, meat & fish, fresh seafood). Applying the cluster analysis method, by using socioeconomic variables along the five common factors, elderly households aged 60 or older were grouped into four types. As a result, Type 1 elderly households accounted for 50.8%, Type 2 for 16.2%, Type 3 for 27.8%, and Type 4 for 5.2% out of all 870 elderly households. Type 1 is characterized as a low-income vulnerable class with a poor diet, Type 2 as a middle-income class with a healthy food-oriented diet, whereas Type 3 was classified as a middle-income class with a meat-oriented diet, and Type 4 as a high-income class with diverse dietary culture. It is necessary to expand the agri-food voucher pilot project to the entire country and also increase the monthly subsidy for the Type 1 elderly households. Implementing community kitchen projects for elderly single-person households, promoting senior internships by providing incentives to companies that employ retirees, the provision of education by local governments on a safe and balanced diet for Types 2 and 3, and the promotion of an elderly-friendly social environment are also recommended.