Association between mental health and meal patterns among elderly Koreans

Aim: The present cross-sectional study analyzed the differences in mental health among community-dwelling elderly Koreans based on type of meal skipping and family meal frequency.

Methods: We carried out a secondary data analysis using data from 4742 older adults aged ≥65 years from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey V (2010-2012), a nationally representative sample.

Results: In the final model, after adjusting for covariates, we found differences in stress, depression and suicidal ideation based on the type of meal skipping. Specifically, breakfast skippers showed a greater odds ratio for depression and suicidal ideation than breakfast eaters; dinner skippers showed a greater odds ratio for suicidal ideation than dinner eaters. We also found differences in stress, depression and suicidal ideation per family meal frequency.

Conclusions: It is necessary to consider the type of meal skipping and family meal frequency while providing limited social resources to improve the mental health of older adults. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2018; 18: 161-168.