Nutrition Research and Practice

The Korean Nutrition Society (한국영양학회)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Level of happiness and its association with food literacy among Seoul citizens: results from Seoul Food Survey 2021

  • Hyelim Yoo (Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Hallym University) ;
  • Eunbin Jo (Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Hallym University) ;
  • Hyeongyeong Lee (Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Hallym University) ;
  • Eunji Ko (Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Hallym University) ;
  • Eunjin Jang (Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Hallym University) ;
  • Jiwon Sim (Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Hallym University) ;
  • Sohyun Park (Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Hallym University)
  • Received : 2022.11.15
  • Accepted : 2023.09.04
  • Published : 2024.02.01
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Happiness is an important factor in life, and food literacy (FL) has been emphasized as a core concept for a happy and healthy life. This study examined the level of happiness of Seoul citizens according to their sociodemographic factors and their association with FL. SUBJECTS/METHODS: This study used the data from the Seoul Food Survey, a cross-sectional study conducted on 4,039 Seoul citizens from September to October 2021. FL was measured using a validated questionnaire consisting of 33 items from 3 sub-domains: 14 items in the nutrition and safety domain, 8 items in the cultural and relational domain, and 11 items in the socio-ecological domain. Statistical analysis involved descriptive statistics and multivariate regression analysis. RESULTS: Various sociodemographic factors, such as household income, subjective health status, and food insecurity, were found to be associated with the level of happiness. The level of FL was also associated with the happiness scores. After adjusting for variables associated with happiness, the participants with the highest quartile FL scores were 7.32 times more likely to respond that they were happy than those with the lowest FL score. Three FL domains and total FL showed linear increases in overall happiness after controlling for subjective health status and sociodemographic factors (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: After adjusting for the related covariates, higher levels of FL were associated with higher scores in happiness. Based on this study, it would be meaningful to evaluate ways to intervene in FL to improve the level of happiness among the general population.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to acknowledge the study participants.

References

  1. Jyvakorpi SK, Urtamo A, Pitkala KH, Strandberg TE. Happiness of the oldest-old men is associated with fruit and vegetable intakes. Eur Geriatr Med 2018;9:687-90. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41999-018-0084-9
  2. Veenhoven R. Healthy happiness: effects of happiness on physical health and the consequences for preventive health care. J Happiness Stud 2008;9:449-69. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-006-9042-1
  3. Chen W. How education enhances happiness: comparison of mediating factors in four East Asian countries. Soc Indic Res 2012;106:117-31. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-011-9798-5
  4. Sasaki Y, Shobugawa Y, Nozaki I, Takagi D, Nagamine Y, Funato M, Chihara Y, Shirakura Y, Lwin KT, Zin PE, et al. Association between happiness and economic status among older adults in two Myanmar regions. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2022;19:3216.
  5. Kye SY, Park K. Health-related determinants of happiness in Korean adults. Int J Public Health 2014;59:731-8. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-014-0588-0
  6. Frongillo EA, Nguyen HT, Smith MD, Coleman-Jensen A. Food insecurity is more strongly associated with poor subjective well-being in more-developed countries than in less-developed countries. J Nutr 2019;149:330-5. https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/nxy261
  7. Gu Y, Wei HL. Significant indicators and determinants of happiness: evidence from a UK survey and revealed by a data-driven systems modelling approach. Soc Sci 2018;7:53.
  8. Weech-Maldonado R, Miller MJ, Lord JC. The relationships among socio-demographics, perceived health, and happiness. Appl Res Qual Life 2017;12:289-302. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-017-9517-8
  9. Angner E, Miller MJ, Ray MN, Saag KG, Allison JJ. Health literacy and happiness: a community-based study. Soc Indic Res 2010;95:325-38. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-009-9462-5
  10. Ministry of Health and Welfare (KR); Korea Health Promotion Institute. The 5th Health Plan (2021-2030). Seoul: Ministry of Health and Welfare; 2020.
  11. LeBlanc J, Ward S, LeBlanc CP. The association between adolescents' food literacy, vegetable and fruit consumption, and other eating behaviors. Health Educ Behav 2022;49:603-12. https://doi.org/10.1177/10901981221086943
  12. Vidgen HA, Gallegos D. Defining food literacy and its components. Appetite 2014;76:50-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2014.01.010
  13. Palumbo R, Adinolfi P, Annarumma C, Catinello G, Tonelli M, Troiano E, Vezzosi S, Manna R. Unravelling the food literacy puzzle: evidence from Italy. Food Policy 2019;83:104-15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2018.12.004
  14. Begley A, Paynter E, Butcher LM, Dhaliwal SS. Examining the association between food literacy and food insecurity. Nutrients 2019;11:445.
  15. Khorramrouz F, Doustmohammadian A, Eslami O, Khadem-Rezaiyan M, Pourmohammadi P, Amini M, Khosravi M. Relationship between household food insecurity and food and nutrition literacy among children of 9-12 years of age: a cross-sectional study in a city of Iran. BMC Res Notes 2020;13:433.
  16. Lesani A, Mohammadpoorasl A, Javadi M, Esfeh JM, Fakhari A. Eating breakfast, fruit and vegetable intake and their relation with happiness in college students. Eat Weight Disord 2016;21:645-51. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-016-0261-0
  17. Peltzer K, Pengpid S. Dietary consumption and happiness and depression among university students: a cross-national survey. J Psychol Afr 2017;27:372-7. https://doi.org/10.1080/14330237.2017.1347761
  18. Glabska D, Guzek D, Groele B, Gutkowska K. Fruit and vegetable intake and mental health in adults: a systematic review. Nutrients 2020;12:115.
  19. Palumbo R. Sustainability of well-being through literacy. The effects of food literacy on sustainability of well-being. Agricu Agric Sci Procedia 2016;8:99-106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aaspro.2016.02.013
  20. World Health Organization. Obesity: Preventing and Managing the Global Epidemic. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2000.
  21. Abdel-Khalek AM. Measuring happiness with a single-item scale. Soc Behav Personal 2006;34:139-50. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.2006.34.2.139
  22. Yoo H, Jo E, Lee H, Park S. Development of a food literacy assessment tool for healthy, joyful, and sustainable diet in South Korea. Nutrients 2022;14:1507.
  23. Ministry of Health and Welfare (KR); The Korean Nutrition Society. The Application of 2020 Dietary Reference Intakes for Koreans. Sejong: Ministry of Health and Welfare; 2022.
  24. Yook SM, Park S, Moon HK, Kim KR, Shim JE, Hwang J. Development of Korean healthy eating index for adults using the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data. J Nutr Health 2015;48:419-28. https://doi.org/10.4163/jnh.2015.48.5.419
  25. Azizi M, Mohamadian F, Ghajarieah M, Direkvand-Moghadam A. The effect of individual factors, socioeconomic and social participation on individual happiness: a cross-sectional study. J Clin Diagn Res 2017;11:VC01-04. https://doi.org/10.7860/JCDR/2017/24658.9982
  26. Godoy-Izquierdo D, Gonzalez-Hernandez J, Rodriguez-Tadeo A, Lara R, Ogallar A, Navarron E, Ramirez MJ, Lopez-Mora C, Arbinaga F. Body satisfaction, weight stigma, positivity, and happiness among Spanish adults with overweight and obesity. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2020;17:4186.
  27. Laaksonen S. A research note: happiness by age is more complex than U-shaped. J Happiness Stud 2018;19:471-82.
  28. Beja EL Jr. The U-shaped relationship between happiness and age: evidence using world values survey data. Qual Quant 2018;52:1817-29. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-017-0570-z
  29. Chang HK. The health status, aging anxiety, social networking, generativity, and happiness of late middle-aged adults. J Korean Acad Soc Nurs Educ 2021;27:392-401. https://doi.org/10.5977/jkasne.2021.27.4.392
  30. Begley A, Butcher LM, Bobongie V, Dhaliwal SS. Identifying participants who would benefit the most from an adult food-literacy program. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2019;16:1272.
  31. Skeaff S, Ware L, Davis N, Power D, Russell K, Cameron C, Skeaff M. The association between sociodemographic and anthropometric variables and food literacy scores in elementary school children. FASEB J 2018;31:432.6.
  32. Lakey B. Perceived social support and happiness: the role of personality and relational processes. In: Boniwell I, David SA, Ayers AC, editors. Oxford Handbook of Happiness. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2013. p. 847-59.
  33. Choi MJ, Park YG, Kim YH, Cho KH, Nam GE. Eating together and health-related quality of life among Korean adults. J Nutr Educ Behav 2020;52:758-65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2019.11.013
  34. Greyling T, Rossouw S, Adhikari T. The good, the bad and the ugly of lockdowns during COVID-19. PLoS One 2021;16:e0245546.
  35. Choi I, Kim JH, Kim N, Choi E, Choi J, Suk HW, Na J. How COVID-19 affected mental well-being: an 11-week trajectories of daily well-being of Koreans amidst COVID-19 by age, gender and region. PLoS One 2021;16:e0250252.
  36. Greater London Authority. The London Food Strategy: Healthy and Sustainable Food for London. London: Greater London Authority; 2018.
  37. Food Policy Team of the Seoul Metropolitan Government. 2021 Seoul Food Survey (SFS). Seoul: Food Policy Team of the Seoul Metropolitan Government; 2022.
  38. Brighton and Hove Food Partnership. Brighton and Hove Food Strategy Action Plan 2018-2023. Brighton, Hove: Brighton and Hove Food Partnership; 2018.