title: Sociodemographic characteristics of underweight korean adults: Korea national health and nutrition examination survey, 2007-2010.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Underweight is associated with increased risk of mortality and morbidity. It is reported that the prevalence of underweight is increasing among Korean young women. However, there have been few studies on sociodemographic factors related to being underweight. This study was conducted to elucidate the sociodemographic characteristics of Korean underweight adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study is a cross-sectional study of 7,776 adults aged 25 to 69 years using data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2007-2010. Study subjects were composed of underweight and normal-weight adults excluding overweight adults. Body mass index was calculated from measured height and weight. Health behaviors such as smoking, drinking, and physical activity were surveyed through self-administered questionnaires, and socioeconomic status, marital status, and history of morbidity were surveyed through face-to-face interviews.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Women had a higher frequency of underweight (10.4% vs. 7.0%, P < 0.001) than men. Among men, current smoking (odds ratio [OR], 1.62) and past history of cancer (OR, 2.55) were independently related to underweight. Among women, young age (OR, 2.06), former smoking (OR, 1.69), and being unmarried (OR, 1.56) were identified as independently related factors of underweight. In addition, among both men and women, alcohol drinking (men OR, 0.57; women OR, 0.77) and past history of chronic diseases (men OR, 0.55; women OR, 0.43) were independently related to a lower frequency of underweight.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We showed that various sociodemographic factors were associated with underweight. It was ascertained that there were differences in the sociodemographic factors related to underweight between Korean men and women.
authors: Department of Family Medicine, Seoul Paik Hospital, Inje University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors: Sung Il
authors: SI
authors: Park
authors: Young Gyu
authors: YG
authors: Cho
authors: Jae Heon
authors: JH
authors: Kang
authors: Hyun Ah
authors: HA
authors: Park
authors: Kyoung Woo
authors: KW
authors: Kim
authors: Yang Im
authors: YI
authors: Hur
authors: Hye Jin
authors: HJ
authors: Kang
keywords: Demographic Factors; Sex; Social Characteristics; Underweight