Associations between meal companions and obesity in South Korean adults

Jeong & Jang (2020) inspected the data from the 2013-2017 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) involving 23,494 adult participants in their study to examine the relationship between meal companions and obesity among a South Korean sample population. Participants were first divided into three categories: dinner with family, dinner with others, and dinner alone. A multinomial logistic regression analysis revealed people who ate dinner with others or alone had a higher obesity risk compared to those that had family dinners, and this was the case regardless of their breakfast companion. Moreover, those adults who had daily meals outside of their homes had a greater risk of becoming obese than those who ate dinners with others or with family. It was also discovered regular drinking increases obesity risk, as seen in those who engaged in weekly heavy drinking compared to those who did not drink. This investigation highlighted the benefit of family dinners over having dinner alone or with others, which could motivate dieters to have more frequent family dinners. [NPID: psychosocial, Korea, obesity, South Korea, family dinners]

Year: 2020

Reference: Jeong, W., & Jang, S. I. (2020). Associations between Meal Companions and Obesity in South Korean Adults. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(8), 2697. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17082697

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