A Study on Life Style and Eating Habits Correlated with Constipation of Working Women in Kangwon Provicne

In this study we included 298 working women in Kangwon province to investigate the life style and eating habits related to constipation. The subjects were divided into 3 groups according to Roman II criteria as follows : normal, mild constipation and constipation groups. For the result, 48.4%, 42.7%, 27.2% and 28.6% of the subjects had constipation in the order of 20's, 30's, 40's, and 50's, respectively. Constipation group had low frequency of bowel movement per week and irregular visit to toilet compared to normal and mild constipation groups. There were higher percentage of people with reading habit while sitting on a toilet, in the constipation group compare to other groups. Constipation groups had difficulty having bowel movement when sleeping outside of their home. There was a significant difference in water consumption per day among the 3 groups. But there was no significant difference in the amount of meals consumed and the number of meals with snacks per day. For the food frequency, there was lower frequency of yogurt and vegetables consumption in the constipation group. But there was no difference in how to eat fruits. From these results, we concluded that in order to treat the constipation, it is recommended to take enough water and dietary fiber, and to have physical activities for the working women.

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