Korean J Community Nutr.  2015 Dec;20(6):411-422. 10.5720/kjcn.2015.20.6.411.

The Relationships among Quality of Life and Stress, Health-related Habits and Food Intake in Korean Healthy Adults Based on 2013 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

• Lee SB
• Choi HJ
• Kim MJ

• KMID: 2152495
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5720/kjcn.2015.20.6.411

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
This study investigated the socioeconomic factors that affect quality of life (QL) in healthy adults and to study the relationship between QL and health-related habits and food intake.
METHODS
Subjects consisted of 1,154 healthy adults without any known disease, aged 19 to 65 years from the 2013 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data. We used SPSS statistical program version 20.0 for data analysis.
RESULTS
The average age and QL score of the study population were 36.7 years and 0.99 points, respectively. Males had a significantly higher QL score than the females (p < 0.001), and employed subjects and those employed in permanent positions had significantly higher scores as compared respectively with unemployed subjects and those employed in temporary positions (p < 0.001, p < 0.05). The group that responded "almost every day" to the "frequency of binge drinking" and "frequency of disruption of daily life due to drinking" had significantly lower QL scores as compared to other groups (p < 0.05). Further, the scores were significantly higher for individuals who practiced "intense physical activities" and "walking" (p < 0.001). The groups that responded that they were "very stressed" showed significantly lower QL scores in comparison to the other groups (p < 0.05). There were no significant differences in QL scores according to anthropometric or biochemical indices. When subjects were divided into two groups based on average QL scores, the frequency of intake of "barbecued beef" was significantly higher while the frequency of intake of "fried eggs or rolled omelet," and "soy milk" was significantly lower in the high QL group.
CONCLUSIONS
Based on these findings, it is evident that in healthy adults without any known underlying illnesses, psychological factors such as economic activity, occupational environment, and stress are considered to have a greater impact on their QL than are nutrient intake, blood biochemical indices, and anthropometric status.

Keyword

quality of life; health-related habits; stress; healthy adults; food intake

MeSH Terms

Adult*
Eating*
Eggs
Female
Humans
Korea*
Male
Nutrition Surveys*
Ovum
Psychology
Quality of Life*
Socioeconomic Factors
Statistics as Topic

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