Elderly People Aged 65 and Over Who Eat Alone Daily Age Faster

Eulji University Research Team Study... "Frailty Progresses 1.4 Times Faster"
"Elderly Eating Alone Reflects Decline in Social Relationships and Isolation"

A study has found that elderly people who eat alone every day age faster than those who do not. On the 16th, according to the Korean Society of Health Information and Statistics, a research team led by Nam Jin-young, a professor in the Department of Medical Management at Eulji University, analyzed survey data from 9,031 elderly people aged 65 and over based on the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency from 2014 to 2019. The results were published in the latest issue of the society's academic journal.

The research team set five criteria for frailty: ▲ unintentional weight loss of 3 kg or more within a year ▲ decreased grip strength according to sarcopenia standards (less than 26 kg for men, less than 18 kg for women) ▲ some difficulty in walking or needing to lie down all day, among others. Those meeting 0 to 2 criteria were classified as the 'pre-frail group,' and those meeting 3 or more criteria were classified as the 'frail group.'

Recent domestic studies have shown that 18.7% of all elderly people aged 65 and over are frail. In this study as well, 1,590 out of 9,031 respondents (18.3%) were classified as frail.

The research team stated, “We aimed to analyze the relationship between the frequency of eating alone and frailty among elderly people aged 65 and over to determine whether eating alone is a risk factor for frailty,” adding, “The study found that eating alone in old age shows differences in frailty depending on gender and age.”

The prevalence of frailty by age was 11.2% among 5,311 elderly people aged 65 to 74, with 597 individuals classified as frail. Among those aged 75 and over, 993 out of 3,720 people, or 26.7%, were frail.

The research team explained, “Regression analysis showed that the overall relationship between the frequency of eating alone and frailty was not statistically significant, but differences were found in this relationship according to age and gender.” For those aged 65 to 74 (early elderly), those who ate all three meals alone were 1.4 times more likely to be frail compared to those who did not eat alone, whereas no significant association was observed in those aged 75 and over (late elderly).

Looking at gender, among men aged 65 to 74 (early elderly), the relationship between eating alone frequency and frailty was not statistically significant. In contrast, women who ate all three meals alone were 1.5 times more likely to be frail than those who did not.

The research team noted, “Among the elderly, single-person households of women are more than three times higher than those of men, especially with a high proportion of single-person households due to widowhood.” They diagnosed that women who used to eat with their husbands during middle age tend to eat alone more frequently in old age due to reasons such as widowhood, increasing the risk of frailty among women aged 65 to 74 (early elderly).

The team also observed that since the current elderly generation in Korea was strongly influenced by traditional gender role norms, attitudes and perceptions toward eating alone may differ by gender. Because elderly people gain a sense of belonging, social support, and positive feelings from social meals, 'eating alone' ultimately reflects the decline of social relationships and isolation among the elderly.

Furthermore, the research team explained the purpose of the study as “to verify whether there are differences in the relationship between the frequency of eating alone and frailty by age and gender, in order to establish a policy basis based on social support.” They added, “To reduce the risk of frailty among the elderly, policy interventions supporting elderly people living alone, community-centered shared kitchen projects, and elderly home health care services should be considered.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.