Kwon Sooyoun, Lee Youngmi, Bae Yun-Jung
Department of Food and Nutrition, Shingu University, Seongnam 13174, Korea.
Major of Food and Nutrition, Division of Integrative Biosciences, Myongji University, Yongin 17058, Korea.
Nutr Res Pract. 2025 Apr;19(2):257-272. doi: 10.4162/nrp.2025.19.2.257. Epub 2025 Feb 19.
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Living alone has a bearing on unhealthy lifestyle choices, such as skipping meals, unbalanced diets, smoking, and drinking, raising concerns about health problems. This study aimed to examine the dietary habits, competencies, and cooking skills of adults living alone and their relationship with the nutritional quotient (NQ).
SUBJECTS/METHODS: We conducted an online survey spanning April 20-26, 2023 that was administered to 500 adults aged 35-64 yrs who were living alone in Korea. The questionnaire included questions regarding general information, eating habits, cooking environment, dietary competencies, cooking skills, and NQ. The results were stratified according to sex and age.
Middle-aged adults who were living alone responded that the main reason they skipped meals when eating alone was "because meal preparation is a hassle." Middle-aged adults living alone consumed fewer vegetables, fruits, and milk than the recommended levels. The dietary competencies of the participants were 3.14 out of 5.0, and their cooking skills were 3.77 out of 5.0. Female had significantly higher scores for most items than male ( < 0.05). In addition, after adjusting for confounding factors, the odds of a high NQ score in the group with high dietary competencies was 3.75 (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.15-6.55; for trend < 0.001), and the odds of a high NQ score for participants with higher cooking skills were 3.99 (95% CI, 2.27-7.02).
These findings provide fundamental data for developing tailored nutrition education programs for adults aged 35-64 yrs living alone, considering age and sex differences.
背景/目的：独居与不健康的生活方式选择有关，如不规律饮食、饮食不均衡、吸烟和饮酒，这引发了人们对健康问题的担忧。本研究旨在调查独居成年人的饮食习惯、能力和烹饪技能及其与营养商数（NQ）的关系。
对象/方法：2023年4月20日至26日，我们对韩国500名年龄在35至64岁的独居成年人进行了一项在线调查。问卷包括有关一般信息、饮食习惯、烹饪环境、饮食能力、烹饪技能和NQ的问题。结果按性别和年龄分层。
独居的中年成年人表示，他们独自用餐时不规律饮食的主要原因是“准备饭菜很麻烦”。独居的中年成年人摄入的蔬菜、水果和牛奶低于推荐水平。参与者的饮食能力得分为3.14（满分5.0），烹饪技能得分为3.77（满分5.0）。女性在大多数项目上的得分显著高于男性（<0.05）。此外，在调整混杂因素后，饮食能力高的组中NQ得分高的几率为3.75（95%置信区间[CI]，2.15 - 6.55；趋势检验P<0.001），烹饪技能较高的参与者NQ得分高的几率为3.99（95%CI，2.27 - 7.02）。
这些发现为针对35至64岁独居成年人制定量身定制的营养教育计划提供了基础数据，同时考虑了年龄和性别差异。
