Journal List > Korean J Community Nutr > v.24(5) > 1136654

Jo and Oh: Comparison of Dietary Behavior of Eating Alone in Single Households by Status of Workers and Age

Abstract

Objectives

This study compared the dietary behaviors of single-person households when eating alone according to the employment pattern and age.

Methods

A total of 566 people aged 20~59 years old were collected from the status of workers and classified into three groups according to their employment pattern (regular, non-regular workers and business owner). The subjects were collected by purposive quota sampling on a Gallup panel from June to November in 2017. The dietary behavior and perception of eating alone of the subjects were surveyed via online and self-reported questionnaires.

Results

The frequency of eating alone was significantly higher in the regular group than the non-regular group and business group (p<0.01). The place of eating alone was significantly higher in the regular and non-regular group in the convenience store, and business group in the office (p<0.001). Ramen, the menu when eating alone, was significantly higher in the non-regular group than the other groups (p<0.01). The preference for eating alone was lower in the older age group (p<0.05). The young aged group (aged 20~30) ate more fast food and felt more convenience than the older aged group aged 40~50 years (p<0.05).

Conclusions

Single-person households with a non-regular job have poorer dietary behavior in eating alone than those who had regular employment. In a situation of an increasing number of non-regular workers aged in their 20s and 30s, there is a high likelihood of social problems, such as health and poverty. This study highlights the need for a healthy food selection environment to improve the dietary life of single-person households with non-regular jobs for the diverse types of single-person households.

Figures and Tables

Table 1

General characteristics

kjcn-24-408-i001
Table 2

Frequency, meal amount and place of eating alone n (%)

kjcn-24-408-i002

1) p-value are from chi-square test

Table 3

Menu of eating alone n (%)

kjcn-24-408-i003

1) p-value are from chi-square test

Table 4

Menu of eating together n (%)

kjcn-24-408-i004

1) p-value are from chi-square test

Table 5

Preference and feelings of eating alone n (%)

kjcn-24-408-i005

1) The preference scores were based on the mean scores measured on 5 Likert-type scale (1: very bad ~5: very good)

2) p-value are from ANOVA test

3) a, b: Means with different superscript letters are significantly different at p<0.05 among 3 groups by ANOVA and Tukey's multiple range test

4) p-value are from chi-square test

Table 6

Reasons for eating alone and eating together n (%)

kjcn-24-408-i006

1) p-value are from chi-square test

Table 7

Problems of eating alone and eating together n (%)

kjcn-24-408-i007

1) p-value are from chi-square test

Acknowledgments

This study protocol was approved by the Human Investigation Review Board of Public Institutional Bioethics Committee designated by the MOHW (P01-201705-23-004). This work was supported by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2016S1A5A2A 03928070)

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TOOLS
ORCID iDs

Pil Kyoo Jo
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5623-0866

Yu Jin Oh
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8178-4211

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