Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of food behavior and life-style behavior on the health-status of male industrial workers in the Masan region. The average age of the 173 male subjects was 42.9 years and 59% of the subjects were labor workers, 25% office workers, and 70% of them earned 1 - 1.5 million won monthly. The subjects were categorized into one of three groups : normal group, health-concerned group, and disease-suspected group classified by the criteria of the data (blood pressure, blood glucose, blood hemoglobin, serum total cholesterol, and serum triglyceride) obtained from a health examination. Forty seven belonged to the normal group, 71 to the health-concerned group, and 55 to the disease-suspected group. The health-concerned group, and disease-suspected group had significantly higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure, blood glucose, and serum total cholesterol than the normal group, and the disease-suspected group showed a significantly higher serum triglyceride level than the normal and health-concerned groups. The disease-suspected group consumed carbohydrate foods, such as cereals more frequently and protein foods such as beans and eggs less frequently than the normal group and health-concerned group. However, there was no difference in nutrient intakes among the three groups. The disease-suspected group and health-concerned group smoked more cigarettes and drank more frequently than the normal group, and the disease-suspected group exercised less as compared to the normal group. The kinds of diseases diagnosed in the disease-suspected group were hypertension, hyperlipidemia, liver disease, and neurological disease. The results of this study indicate that nutrition education and monitoring should be implemented for industrial workers to prevent chronic diseases and to reduce medical cost for the treatment of disease.

• Keywords: food behavior; life-style behavior; health status; industrial worker