Association of Eating Alone with Depressive Symptoms and Suicidal Ideation among Korean Adults

BACKGROUND: In recent years, eating dinner alone has become a rising social issue in Korea. Depression is one of the primary health problems that can lead to numerous negative consequences. However, few studies have focused on people who eat alone and the effect of eating alone on depression. We investigated the association between eating dinner alone and depression. METHODS: Our cross-sectional study included data from 14,093 Korean adults aged above 19 years old; data were sourced from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in 2014, 2016, and 2018, when the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) was used. We classified participants based on their dinner habits: eating alone or social eating. Depression and suicidal ideation among participants were measured using the PHQ-9. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to investigate whether eating alone was related to depression or suicidal ideation after adjusting for age, sex, household income, education, alcohol, smoking, exercise, frequency of eating out, and living arrangement. RESULTS: Individuals who ate dinner alone (22.9%) had higher depression and suicidal ideation rates than those who ate with others. Those who ate alone had greater odds ratios (ORs) of depressive symptoms (depression: OR, 1.42; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.27–1.58; suicidal ideation: OR, 1.49; 95% CI, 1.25–1.78) after adjustment for covariates. The subgroup analysis shows that the odds of suicidal ideation among individuals who eat alone were nonexistent among those who performed regular aerobic exercise. CONCLUSION: Eating dinner alone is closely associated with depressive symptoms, particularly suicidal ideation. Therefore, providing opportunities to eat with others may be effective for maintaining the mental health of adults.