Background: With the increase in the number of single-person households, the number of people eating alone is increasing, and several previous studies have been published that this eating culture affects health, including the latest data on the risk of metabolic syndrome caused by eating alone. Methods: Of the 24,229 people who participated in the 2017-2019 National Health and Nutrition Survey, a cross-sectional study was conducted on 10,717 adults under the age of 65 who responded to questions to determine whether they ate together and metabolic syndrome for 1 year. Results: It was found that the risk of metabolic syndrome increased when eating alone, and further analysis by gender showed that the risk of metabolic syndrome increased in women as they ate alone (odds ratio, 1.46; 95% confidence interval, 1.210-1.771). As a result of dividing the metabolic syndrome indicators, it was found that men showed significant differences only in neutral fat levels, while women showed significant differences in all indicators. Conclusions According to the results of this study, it is found that eating alone affects the risk of metabolic syndrome in adults under the age of 65, especially women, so it is considered necessary to prevent and manage metabolic syndrome in the population of eating alone in the future.

Background: With the increasing frequency of body contouring surgery following weight loss, plastic surgeons have paid considerable attention to subcutaneous fat. However, few studies have investigated superficial and deep fat changes after bariatric surgery, and such studies have been limited to macroscopic assessments. The purpose of this study was to evaluate changes in superficial and deep fat in bariatric surgery patients using computed tomography (CT) to obtain quantitative measurements. Methods: This study included 11 patients (five males, six females; average age, 27 years) who underwent bariatric surgery at Dongsan Medical Center from October 2013 to October 2016. We excluded patients with a body mass index (BMI) <30 kg/m2 and those without both preoperative and postoperative CT images. We analyzed changes in subcutaneous fat area on CT images, with a mean follow-up of 5.5 months. We also performed a subgroup analysis using a BMI cutoff of 40 kg/m2. Results: Patients undergoing bariatric surgery showed significant reductions in weight, total fat, and the area of superficial and deep fat (P=0.002). In patients with a BMI less than 40 kg/m2, the reduction rate of superficial subcutaneous adipose tissue (sSAT) tended to be higher than that of deep subcutaneous adipose tissue (dSAT). Conversely, in patients with a BMI over 40 kg/m2, the reduction rate of dSAT was higher than that of sSAT. Conclusions We observed a difference in the reduction rate of sSAT and dSAT during weight loss after bariatric surgery, although it was not statistically significant. The reduction rates differed according to BMI.