The Relation of Consciousness of Health Status and Nutrient Intakes in Korean Farmers

농업인의 인지된 건강상태와 영양소 섭취와의 관련성 연구

The purpose of this study was to compare the consciousness of health status and nutrient intake of farmers in Korea. Eight hundred were surveyed by rural leaders of Rural Development Administration(RDA), composed of 35.1 % male and 64.9% female. Data collection included personal & family situation by Interview method for influencial factors of health status. Food intake was determined by semiquantitative food frequency method with 65 kinds of foods. 32.5% of the subjects were elementary school graduates, younger age groups and males had higher levels of education. Mean family numbers was 4.2 persons. In the concept of disease prevalence, gender difference existed. Liver and heart ailments were frequent in males and waist pain and urinary complaints in females, and schoulder pain and nervesness were frequently prevalent to all farmers. The energy intake of farmers was 2000Kca1/day, 19:16:65 of PFC(protein, fat, and carbohydrate) ratio was approached at recommended composition of energy. But calcium and iron were lower than Korean Recommended Dietary Allowences(KRDA), Vitamin A, thiamin, niacin, and vitamin C were over of KRDA, but riboflavin, pyridoxin, and vitamin I were lower than KRDA. The nutrient intakes of poor health groups were significantly lower than those of healthy. In fatty acid composition, monounsaturated fatty acids(FA) intake was higher than that of saturated FA. The CMI (Cornell Medical Index) and Farmers' syndrome were significantly correlated with personal factors, such as height, number in family, education level, and working level. But the correlation of health status with nutrient intakes were only weakly significant. Depending on the regression analysis, Farmers' syndrome explanation about nutrient intake was low(R2 was only 0.01 more or less), but some nutrients (energy, niacin, pyridoxine, vitamin E, and lipids) could explain this significantly. It was concluded that body complaints of farmers could ameliorate with good nutrition.