Factors Influencing the Eating Behaviors of Young Adults Using the 2013–2018 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

BACKGROUND: There is a substantial gap in the eating behaviors between the sexes. We aimed to analyze the predictors of eating behaviors by sex in the young adult population. METHODS: We used the data of the sixth and seventh Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency last 2013–2018. Data from 2,502 women and 2,101 men aged 19–29 yr were included in the analysis using frequency, percentage, x(2)-test, and multiple logistic regression. RESULTS: Education (0.612, CI=0.465∼0.805), economic status (2.104, CI=1.435–3.086), marital status (3.162, CI=2.356∼4.243), and household structure (0.403, CI=0.208∼0.782) were identified to predict the frequency of dining-out in women, while marital status (0.302, CI=0.121∼0.749), economic activity (1.969, CI=1.483∼2.613), and household structure (0.243, CI=0.137∼0.432) predicted dining-out frequency in men. The current smoking status predicted most eating behaviors, including breakfast skipping frequency (1.864, CI=1.318∼2.637), use of supplements (2.062, CI=1.439∼2.953), and use of nutrition labels (1.545, 1.084∼2.204) for men. Meanwhile, nutrition labeling was used less in both men (0.550, CI=0.343∼0.882) and women (0.646, CI=0.473∼0.882) who subjective body recognition as obesity. CONCLUSION: The factors that primarily predicted the frequency of dining out in young women and the behavior of breakfast skipping, use of nutrition labels, and frequency of dining-out in men can be used as foundational data for developing sex-specific intervention programs to improve eating behaviors.