New research has found that people who eat most of their meals alone may be at increased risk for heart disease and diabetes. The study found that men who ate alone at least twice a day were more likely to have metabolic syndrome. A เล่นบาคาร่า UFABET เว็บตรง ค่าคอมสูง group of three or more risk factors, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol and pre-diabetes, compared with those who always ate with others.
Previous research has also raised concerns about the mental and physical health effects of eating alone. And the larger problem of loneliness, particularly among older adults.
In a paper published in Obesity Research & Clinical Practice. The study authors noted that families in many parts of the world have become smaller in recent decades. And there have been more one-person households. “At the same time, meal patterns have become more irregular, informal, and individualized, with more people eating alone,” they write.
To study whether these patterns might play a role in metabolic syndrome. A condition that is on the rise worldwide. They compared health data and survey responses from 7,725 South Korean adults who were asked how often they ate alone.
For men, eating alone was associated with a 45% increased risk of being obese and a 64% increased risk of having metabolic syndrome. Even after adjusting for factors such as age. Smoking and alcohol use, total weekly exercise, education level, and occupational status. Unmarried men who ate alone had the highest risk of metabolic syndrom. With a three times greater risk than men who said they often ate with others.
The effect was not as pronounced in women: those who ate alone at least twice a day were 29% more likely to have metabolic syndrome than those who never ate alone. But the difference disappeared when the researchers took into account socioeconomic and lifestyle factors.
Previous research has found that people who tend to eat alone may feel lonely, isolated, and more likely to make unhealthy food choices, eat fewer fruits and vegetables, and eat at irregular times.
From this study, it was not possible to conclude a causal relationship. Between eating alone and metabolic syndrome (the study did not ask people about the types of foods they ate or their reasons for eating alone). Metabolic syndrome can be caused by poor diet and unhealthy lifestyle choices.
The study’s results may not apply to people in other countries and cultures. Where people don’t eat alone as often. But the practice is common in the United States, as well as in South Korea.
Annalyn Conklin, an assistant professor of pharmacy at the University of British Columbia who has also studied health outcomes associated with living and eating alone. Said she wasn’t surprised by the new study. Especially the findings involving men.
“Unmarried men who ate alone had significantly worse outcomes than others in the study. And this reflects other research that has been done on social relationships and diet quality,” Conklin said. The results in women were less clear-cut and warrant further study, she said.
Conklin said future research should look at other factors that might explain the association between eating alone and metabolic syndrome. Such as stress levels and sleep quality. The study was designed in a way that doesn’t show whether eating alone might be a byproduct of stress, sleep problems or loneliness, or vice versa, she said.
“Having a more sensitive measure of stressful life events may help disentangle some of these relationships,” Conklin said. “We know that sleep deprivation and stress create a vicious cycle that alters eating behavior, and may be one of the drivers of the experience of eating alone and metabolic syndrome.