• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.340-353
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• 2001

The aim of this study was to investigate health-related and eating-related behaviors as part of self-recognized health status. The survey was conducted among 304 elderly people in Chunchon city in 1999. Fifty two percent(52%) of the respondents recognized they were healthy, 32% felt so-so and 16% thought themselves unhealthy. When they felt healthy, they engaged in more social work and regular exercise, had better appetites, lower conflict scores with their children, lower depression, higher satisfaction in life, better physical condition(eye, ear, tooth, mentality and walking), and higher ability of ADL(activities of daily living) and IAD(instrumental activities of daily living). Also, the self-recognized group consumed each food groups (meats, green, yellow and white vegetables, fruits, milks, seaweeds, beans) more often and showed a higher preference of food. The results of this study indicate that self-recognized health status affects every pattern of life among the elderly. As a result, comprehensive education(such as nutrition, health, physical and psychological education) should be offered to the elderly.

• Nutritional Sciences
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.146-154
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• 2002

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of household type on the health- and food-related behavior of the elderly. The survey was conducted on 304 free-living elderly persons in Chun-Chon city in 1999. The subjects were divided into three groups by their household types : living alone (n=35), living with their spouses (n=59), and living with their extended family (n=191). The results were obtained by personal interviews using questionnaires. Compared to the group living with their spouses and/or extended families, the elderly living alone were : less satisfied with the amount of monthly pocket money available; less involved in social activities; taking less vitamin supplements; doing less physical exercise; more frequently skipping meals and dining out; less frequently consuming meats, vegetables, fruits and seaweed; and having the highest rate of depression. The elderly living with their spouses tended to have the best physical functions and the greatest ability to carry out basic daily activities. The elderly living with their extended families had a higher incidence of diseases compared to the other groups. The preferred snacks were cookies for the elderly living alone, and fruits for the other two groups. In summary, it has been shown that household type should be taken into consideration for formulating adequate future strategies for effective health and nutrition programs.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.204-220
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• 2008

Objectives: This study was performed to determine the levels of depression symptoms among the community elderlies and to reveal its related factors, specifically aimed at revealing psycho-social factors such as social support net-work, sense of self-esteem, state anxiety, interpersonal behavior trait and locus of control. Methods: The interviews were performed during the period from April 1st to June 30th, 2007 to the 790 elderlies in urban and rural areas. Results: The mean scores of depression (CES-D) among all subjects were 16.65±10.97(urban: 18.81±10.31, rural: 14.49±11.20) and they were higher in urban than rural. The level of depression symptoms was influenced by the variables of educational level, with or without spouse, bear for living expenses, sense of satisfaction in daily life. As for health related behaviors, they were influenced by the variables of with or without regular exercise. As for health status, they were influenced by the subjective health status, with or without disability of body, visual acuity, hearing ability, ability of food mastication, urinary incontinence, with or without help in activity of daily living (ADL) and instrumental activity of daily living (IADL). As for social support net-work and social activities, they were influenced by number of offspring, frequency of offspring contents, frequency of going out and activity of hobbies. As for psycho-social factors, they were influenced by sense of self-esteem, state anxiety and social support, especially, the level of depression symptoms was higher influenced by the variables of psycho-social factors than other variables. Conclusions: Lower of the level of depression symptoms among the community elderlies would require development and application of programs to keep under management psycho-social factors as well as looking for ways to promoting the present health status.