The Association between Family Mealtime and Depression in Elderly Koreans.
- Author:
Yunhwa KANG
1
;
Soyeon KANG
;
Kyung Jung KIM
;
Hyunyoung KO
;
Jinyoung SHIN
;
Yun Mi SONG
Author Information
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords: Aged; Depression; Family Relations; Meals; Koreans
- MeSH: Adolescent; Aged*; Asian Continental Ancestry Group; Cross-Sectional Studies; Depression*; Eating; Family Relations; Female; Humans; Korea; Logistic Models; Male; Meals*; Mental Health; Nutrition Surveys; Odds Ratio; Suicidal Ideation
- From:Korean Journal of Family Medicine 2018;39(6):340-346
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
- Abstract: BACKGROUND: Several studies have revealed the frequency of family mealtimes to be inversely associated with depressive symptoms in adolescents. However, there have been few studies in older populations. This cross-sectional study investigated the association between family mealtime frequency and depressive symptoms in elderly Koreans. METHODS: This study analyzed 4,959 elderly men and women (aged 65 years or older) who participated in the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Self-administered questionnaires were used to assess depressive status, family mealtime frequency, and covariates. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate the association using the eating alone group as a reference. RESULTS: After adjusting for all covariates, participants who had family meals 3 times a day had fewer depressive symptoms than the eating alone group; adjusted odds ratios (ORs) (95% confidence intervals [CIs]) were 0.72 (0.58–0.89) for point depressiveness/anxiety and 0.73 (0.56–0.94) for depressiveness lasting for at least 2 weeks. In suicidal ideation, the OR (95% CI) of eating with family twice a day was significant after full adjusting for covariates at 0.67 (0.50–0.88). CONCLUSION: Family mealtimes were closely associated with depressive symptoms in elderly Koreans, which suggests that maintaining intrafamilial bonding is important for mental health in an older population.
