'Honbap Noin' Health at Risk... Less Exercise and Lower Health Screening Rates

Ilsan Baek Hospital Professor Lee Junhyung's Research Team
2 out of 10 Elderly People Eat Alone
42% Respond "Poor Health Condition"

Professor Lee Jun-hyung, Department of Family Medicine, Ilsan Paik Hospital, Inje University.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] It has been found that the health status of elderly people who eat alone, so-called 'honbap,' is worse, calling for measures to address this issue.

A research team led by Professor Lee Jun-hyung from the Department of Family Medicine at Inje University Ilsan Paik Hospital announced on the 16th that they analyzed ‘honbap elderly’ aged 65 and over and confirmed that they exercise less and have lower health screening rates compared to elderly people who eat together.

The research team analyzed 2,504 people aged 65 and over who participated in the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2016 to 2018. Among all elderly people, 22.3% (559 people) were honbap elderly, who were found to eat all three meals alone. Among the honbap elderly, women accounted for 74.2% (414 people), about three times more than men (25.8%, 145 people).

The research team also compared and analyzed the health behaviors of the ‘eating alone group,’ who eat all three meals alone, and the ‘eating together group,’ who eat at least one meal with others. The rate of regular exercise was 22.7% in the eating alone group, which was 9.2 percentage points lower than the eating together group (31.9%). The health screening rate was also 67.6% in the eating alone group, 6.9 percentage points lower than the eating together group (74.5%).

Comparison of Health Behaviors According to the Presence or Absence of Shared Meals.

In the evaluation of subjective health status, 42.9% of the eating alone group assessed their health as ‘poor,’ while only 31.5% of the eating together group evaluated their health status as poor. The National Health Insurance enrollment rate was also lower in the eating alone group at 84.7%, compared to 95.6% in the eating together group.

Furthermore, the research team divided the subjects into four groups according to eating behavior and household type: ▲eating alone living alone elderly ▲eating alone living with others elderly ▲eating together living alone elderly ▲eating together living with others elderly. The analysis showed that the health behaviors of ‘eating alone living alone elderly’ were overall the most at risk.

According to the 2017-2047 future household special projection data released by Statistics Korea, the proportion of elderly living alone aged 65 and over was 33.7% in 2017. It is expected to increase to 36.6% by 2047, indicating that the number of honbap elderly is also expected to rise.

Professor Lee Jun-hyung emphasized, “For elderly people with limited activity areas, shared mealtime can help form a social support system,” and added, “It is necessary to establish external networks for elderly living alone and provide opportunities for shared meals to encourage mutual healthy behaviors.” He further stated, “Compared to elderly living with others, elderly living alone may lack social communication and cohesion, leading to insufficient health management, which can result in a vicious cycle of increased medical expenses in the future. Therefore, social measures to resolve social isolation are needed.”

The results of this study were published in the recent issue of the Korean Journal of Family Medicine.

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