Household food insufficiency is associated with dietary intake in Korean adults

Objective: To examine the association of food insufficiency with dietary intake and eating and health behaviours. Design: A cross-sectional study. Setting: Data were obtained from a secondary source, the Fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2010-2012). Subjects: The sample size consisted of 15 603 adults over 19 years of age (8898 households). Results: Significant differences in socio-economic factors were observed according to food insufficiency level (P<0.05), but BMI was similar among groups. Regarding macronutrients, lower protein intake and higher carbohydrate intake were found in the severely food-insufficient group, but we found no association with fat intake. Regarding micronutrients, Ca, Fe, vitamin A, thiamin, riboflavin niacin and vitamin C intakes were negatively associated with food insufficiency level (P-trend<0.05). Consumption of different food groups, such as meat, fish, eggs and beans, vegetables and fruits, was significantly lower as food insufficiency level decreased after controlling for all possible variables; food group consumption also differed by sex. Overall eating and health behaviours were poorer in the mildly and severely food-insufficient groups, who received more food assistance but less nutritional education. Conclusions: Our results showed that dietary intake as well as eating and health behaviours are adversely associated with food insufficiency. These findings suggest that specific strategies to help food-insufficient individuals should be developed in order to improve their dietary quality and health status.