Abstract
Given the importance of healthy eating in the later years of life, the present study examined factors associated with dietary risks in older Korean Americans. We hypothesized that dietary risks would be associated with sociodemographic disadvantages, adverse health conditions, and limited sociocultural resources. Dietary risks were assessed with a scale covering five behavioral and situational risk factors (eating alone, skipping meals, functional challenges, oral health problems, and financial difficulties). Analyses of the data from the Study of Older Korean Americans (N = 2,150) showed that the sample on average had 1.13 risks (SD = 1.31), eating alone having the highest frequency (35.6%). Supporting the hypothesis, higher levels of dietary risks were found in individuals with sociodemographic disadvantages, poorer physical and mental health status, smaller social networks, and lower acculturation. Findings suggest concerted efforts to promote dietary behaviors and call attention to older immigrants who are socially and culturally isolated.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 234-247 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | International Journal of Aging and Human Development |
Volume | 96 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Mar 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Data collection was supported by the National Institute on Aging (R01AG047106, PI: Yuri Jang, PhD). Jisook Ko, PhD was supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, through Grant KL2 TR002646.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2022.
Keywords
- acculturation
- dietary risks
- healthy eating
- older immigrants
- social network