• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.242-251
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• 2020

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to examine disparities in food and nutrient intakes based on family types identified among 1,856 participants who were the Korean elderly people in the 6th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHNES) excluding those who were currently practicing the diet therapy. SUBJECTS/METHODS: We separated the subjects into two groups: living alone (LA, n = 638) and living with a spouse (LS, n = 1,218). We also examined the disparities of dietary quantity and quality of those two groups using complex sampling design general linear regression analyses (CS GLM). RESULTS: In the LA group, there was a higher percentage of females and average age in LA group was higher than the participants in the LS group. Household income and education level were significantly lower in LA compared to those of LS. The frequencies of skipping meals were higher in LA. LA's food and nutrient intakes showed lower consumption of vegetables, fruits, seaweeds, and of most nutrients. Even after adjusting for the confounding factors, the consumption of vegetables, seaweeds, carbohydrates, potassium, riboflavin, and vitamin C showed lower in LA than LS. Moreover, LA's nutrient intake ratios compared to the KDRIs were lower which turned out to be similar to their nutrient intakes. CONCLUSIONS: These results show that dietary behavior and food intake of the elderly are associated with family types. Frequently skipping meals and less dietary variety are more common with elderly persons who were living alone. Therefore, it is necessary to integrate the supplementary food programs and nutrition education programs for the elderly living alone.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.14 no.10
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• pp.4953-4961
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• 2013

The purposes of this study were to compare work-family conflict, job satisfaction, job stress, psychological health, and job involvement of Korean female office workers by marital status and to identify the factors that influence job involvement. Data were collected through self reported structured questionnaire form 171 Korean female office workers by convenient sampling methods form May 20 to August 15, 2011. After adjusting for age, education level, family monthly income, working periods and turnover number, work-family conflict(${\beta}$=0.54, p<.001) and job satisfaction(${\beta}$=0.35, p=.002) were identified as significant predictors of job involvement in the married working women. In the unmarried working women, work-family conflict(${\beta}$=0.22, p=.042) and job stress(${\beta}$=-0.57, p=.001) were identified as significant predictors of job involvement. Therefore, as a strategy for improving job involvement of female office workers, psycho-social nursing intervention will be provided considering the differences by marital status.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.23-44
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to examine the preference for living with adult children of the baby-boomer generation and the elderly based on independent variables such as demographic characteristics, the values of their children and the consciousness for supporting their parents. The National Survey of Korean Families was done by the Ministry of Equality and Family in 2010. Respondents were 664 baby boomers and 628 elderly, and the results are as follows. First, the baby boomers rely heavily on their spouse, whereas the elderly rely heavily on their children. While both groups desire to live with their spouse in their later years, and the elderly rely the most on their children, they are reluctant to live together. This result shows that the elderly have high expectations for financial and emotional support from their children, but in reality, the elderly have lower expectations for living together and they prefer to live alone or with their spouse. Second, the boomers, who for the most part live in big cities, have comparatively high average monthly income and jobs and own a house, consider filial obligation as their own responsibility and yet tend to live independently. The boomers, who have a relatively high education level, consider living with aged parents as the children's obligation and consider their children as the most reliable people in their lives, and thus have high expectations to live together with their children. Third, the elderly, with a spouse, who consider having raised children to be their happiness, while considering providing financial support for the aging parents to be the children's responsibility, at the same time accept that the obligation of support lies on themselves, the government or the society, and thus have lower expectations of living with their children in later years. The elderly, now living with their family, with generous financial plans for their aging years and considering the children's success as their own success, have higher expectations of living together with their children.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.809-817
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• 2020

Objectives: This study aimed to analyze the relationship between socioeconomic factors and the unmet dental care needs of the living alone and living with family elderly groups to confirm the differences in their influence. Methods: Data from the Korea Health Panel Study of 2016 were used to analyze a total of 4,987 individuals: 4,008 in living with family group and 979 in living alone group. Chi-square test and multiple logistic regression analyses were performed using SPSS Version 22 (p<0.05). Results: We observed that 16.5% and 28.3% of the participants from the living with family and living alone groups had unmet dental care needs, respectively, indicating that the living alone group had more unmet dental care needs. Income level, residential area, and healthcare security were significant factors related to the living with family group. In contrast, medical aid for healthcare security was a significant factor related to the living alone group (p<0.05). Conclusions: The results confirmed that socioeconomic factors that affect unmet dental care vary according to the living situation. Therefore, the government should identify the number of elderly individuals living alone, which is increasing annually. These individuals are vulnerable in almost all aspects, and the government should establish and implement appropriate oral healthcare policies to support them.

• Human Ecology Research
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• v.60 no.3
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• pp.471-481
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• 2022

This study aimed at examining the mediation effects of depressive symptoms on the association between social activity participation and marital satisfaction among couples in later life. The study included 1,196 married couples aged 65 or above who participated in the 7th Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging in 2018. The study variables were husbands' and wives' social activity participation, marital satisfaction, and depressive symptoms. Covariates were individual age, education level, subjective health, couples' household income, and number of children. The Actor-Partner Interdependence Mediation Model (APIMeM) and bootstrapping techniques were used to test the significance of the mediating impacts of depressive symptoms based on the dyadic data structure. The results showed that for both husbands and wives, active participation in social activities had significant effects on increasing marital satisfaction through lowering depressive symptoms. However, only the participation of husbands in social activities was positively associated with their own marital satisfaction by reducing their own and their partner's depressive symptoms. These findings suggest that the active social participation of individuals salient for promoting the quality of marital relationships in later life, particularly for preventing their own and their spouse's depressive symptoms.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.71-130
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• 2008

Using data from the Korean Labor & Income Panel Study (KLIPS), this study investigates private income transfers in Korea, where adult children have undertaken the most responsibility of supporting their elderly parents without well-established social safety net for the elderly. According to the KLIPS data, three out of five households provided some type of support for their aged parents and two out of five households of the elderly received financial support from their adult children on a regular base. However, the private income transfers in Korea are not enough to alleviate the impact of the fall in the earned income of those who retired and are approaching an age of needing financial assistance from external source. The monthly income of those at least the age of 75, even with the earning of their spouses, is below the staggering amount of 450,000 won, which indicates that the elderly in Korea are at high risk of poverty. In order to analyze microeconomic factors affecting the private income transfers to the elderly parents, the following three samples extracted from the KLIPS data are used: a sample of respondents of age 50 or older with detailed information on their financial status; a five-year household panel sample in which their unobserved family-specific and time-invariant characteristics can be controlled by the fixed-effects model; and a sample of the younger split-off household in which characteristics of both the elderly household and their adult children household can be controlled simultaneously. The results of estimating private income transfer models using these samples can be summarized as follows. First, the dominant motive lies on the children-to-parent altruistic relationship. Additionally, another is based on exchange motive, which is paid to the elderly parents who take care of their grandchildren. Second, the amount of private income transfers has negative correlation with the income of the elderly parents, while being positively correlated with the income of the adult children. However, its income elasticity is not that high. Third, the amount of private income transfers shows a pattern of reaching the highest level when the elderly parents are in the age of 75 years old, following a decreasing pattern thereafter. Fourth, public assistance, such as the National Basic Livelihood Security benefit, appears to crowd out private transfers. Private transfers have fared better than public transfers in alleviating elderly poverty, but the role of public transfers has been increasing rapidly since the welfare expansion after the financial crisis in the late 1990s, so that one of four elderly people depends on public transfers as their main income source in 2003. As of the same year, however, there existed and occupied 12% of the elderly households those who seemed eligible for the National Basic Livelihood benefit but did not receive any public assistance. To remove elderly poverty, government may need to improve welfare delivery system as well as to increase welfare budget for the poor. In the face of persistent elderly poverty and increasing demand for public support for the elderly, which will lead to increasing government debt, welfare policy needs targeting toward the neediest rather than expanding universal benefits that have less effect of income redistribution and heavier cost. Identifying every disadvantaged elderly in dire need for economic support and providing them with the basic livelihood security would be the most important and imminent responsibility that we all should assume to prepare for the growing aged population, and this also should accompany measures to utilize the elderly workforce with enough capability and strong will to work.

• 지역과문화
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.173-202
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• 2020

This study aims to enhance the family-friendliness of the region by examining the relationship between family relations and the community environment, and objectively comparing the local environment surrounding the family. To this end, we reviewed the areas of socio-cultural and economic sectors that affect the family relationship satisfaction, and in particular, analyzed the trend of changes in regional index by utilizing the Korean Family Happiness Composite Index (KFHCI) developed as a community indicators. This index utilizes community indicators published in the National Statistical Portal's "e-Region indicators," and these variables are related to family relationship satisfaction. Therefore, this study compared the seven areas of the Family Happiness Composite Index (Population Family, Health Culture, Education, Income Consumption, Employment Labor, Housing Transportation, Environment and Social Integration) by region, and examined the trends for 10 years. According to the study, the average score of KFHCI's entire region was rising from 2008 to 2018. Overall, the community environment that affects family relationship satisfaction is also improving. The regions belonging to the upper level were Jeonnam, Gangwon, Chungnam, Jeonbuk, and Gyeongbuk. Areas belonging to the lower level are Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Incheon, and Gwangju. In almost sectors, the lower-level regions did not have sufficient physical infrastructure compared to population density and over-density, and improved little by little, but not enough to reflect the needs of local people and improve the quality of life. In the future, we should develop more regular and complementary indicators to develop customized policies for each region that can improve the quality of family relationships. It will also be necessary to study the impact of each index field when a socioeconomic crisis occurs due to social disasters, and try to change indicators

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.123-131
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• 1999

The nutritional status of 125 preschool children(Female : 56, Male : 69) residing in low income area of Seoul was surveyed. The mean family size was 4.3 and the mean monthly income was 921,000 won which was below the poverty level. Average heights of boys aged 3, 4, 5 and 6 were 98.6cm, 106.1cm, 111.9cm and 116.0cm and those for girls were 99.4cm, 106.4cm, 110.9cm, and 116.0cm, respectively. There was no significant difference between the height of boys and girls. The proportion of children showing stunted growth(<90% of Korean standard of height) was 3.2%. The mean weight of boys for each age group(3, 4, 5, 6) were not significantly differient from that of girls. The proportion of children assessed as moderately underweight (<80-90% of Korean Standard of weight) was 10.4% and 3.2% of children was underweight(<80% of weight standard). The group of children aged 3 were taking adequate energy, whereas the mean energy intake of children aged 4.5 and 6 were within 77.3-78.6% of RDA. The proportion of energy derived from carbohydrate, fat and protein was 60.1%, 24.6% and 15.3%. The high proportion of energy derived from fat seems partly due to high energy intake from fat in the snack. The nutrients which did not meet 75% of the RDA were vitamin A and calcium for children aged 5, and iron for children aged 3 to 5. Carbohydrate intake was positively correlated with the height, weight and girth of chest(P<0.05-P<0.001). There was positive correlation between protein intake and weight, girth of chest and BMI, respectively(P<0.05). Iron intake showed positive relationship with height, weight and BMI(P<0.05).

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.240-246
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• 2017

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Folic acid supplementation before pregnancy is known to significantly reduce the risk of having a baby with neural tube defects (NTDs). Therefore, it is important for women to be aware of the effects of folic acid supplementation before pregnancy. The purpose of this study was to investigate the awareness and preconceptional use of folic acid and to assess the current knowledge about folic acid among low-income pregnant women in Korea. SUBJECTS/METHODS: A questionnaire survey was conducted in 2012. Five hundred pregnant women were selected from the waiting list for the Nutriplus program implemented in public health centers using a multistage clustered probability sampling design. Data from 439 women were analyzed after excluding ones with incomplete answers. RESULTS: Among women who responded to the questionnaire, 65.6% had heard of folic acid before pregnancy, and 26.4% reported on the preconceptional use of folic acid. Women with a university degree or higher education were more likely to be aware of folic acid and to take folic acid in the preconception period. In a multivariate logistic regression, when age, education level, household income, employment status, gravidity, parity, and folic acid awareness were included in the model, folic acid awareness was a strong predictor of preconceptional folic acid use. As of interview, 85.4% and 77.7% of women were aware of the NTD-preventive role of folic acid and the appropriate time to take folic acid, respectively. The main sources of information on folic acid were healthcare professionals (41.2%), friends and family members (31.2%), and the media (26.5%). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that public health strategies are needed to increase the preconceptional use of folic acid among Korean women.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.158-168
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• 2014

Objectives: To identify and evaluate the trend of meal-skipping rates among Korean adolescents with their contributing causes and the influence of household income level on meal skipping. Methods: Using 2008, 2010, and 2012 data from the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey of 222 662 students, a cross-sectional study with subgroup analysis was performed. We calculated odds ratios for skipping each meal 5 or more times in a week by household socio-economic status using a multiple logistic regression model. The secular change in the meal-skipping rates by the students' family affluence scale was analyzed by comparing the meal-skipping students within each subgroup and odds ratios for the same event over time. Results: Through 2008 to 2012, most of the meal-skipping rates generally showed a continuous increase or were almost unchanged in both sexes, except for breakfast skipping in several subgroups. Students in low-income households not living with both parents had the highest meal-skipping rates and odds ratios for frequent meal skipping. In a time-series subgroup analysis, the overall odds ratios for the same event increased during 2008 to 2012, with a slight reduction in the gap between low and higher income levels with regard to meal skipping during 2010 to 2012. Conclusions: Household socio-economic status and several other factors had a significant influence on Korean adolescent meal-skipping rates. Although the gap in eating behavior associated with household socio-economic differences is currently decreasing, further study and appropriate interventions are needed.