The older people who eat alone, the higher the level of depression...Need social interaction support
Jun 09, 2025
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According to the National Statistical Office, as of 2023, there are about 2,138,000 elderly people aged 65 or older living alone (single-person households). The figure nearly quadrupled from 543,000 in 2000.
According to the research paper 'Analyzing the Paths on Income and Depression of the Elderly: The Mediating Effect of Eating Alone' published in the latest issue of Korean Old Age Studies, it was found that the level of depression intensifies in the elderly who eat alone.
Using the results of the 2020 National Health and Nutrition Survey conducted by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the researchers analyzed the household income of 1,712 elderly people aged 65 or older, whether they ate alone, and the level of depression. The average age of the survey subjects was 72.3 years, 739 males (43.2%) and 973 females (56.8%).
As a result of the analysis, the higher the household income, the lower the possibility of eating alone and the lower the level of depression. On the other hand, the lower the income, the higher the frequency of eating alone, and the higher the level of depression was for the elderly who ate alone. The possibility of eating alone was high in the case of men or elderly people without spouses.
As of 2023, single-person households accounted for 35.3% (7,829,000 households) of all households, according to Statistics Korea's '2024 statistics. Among them, 19.1% (1.494 million households) of single-person households aged 70 or older accounted for, 18.6% under 29, and 17.3% of those in their 60s and 30s, respectively.
According to the researchers, "It is interpreted that the elderly who do not have sufficient economic resources often choose economic survival over the emotional pleasure they get from relationships because of the burden of the cost of maintaining social relationships."We need to prepare a place for a companion meal to increase the level of social relations and support of the poor elderly by utilizing community infrastructure such as welfare facilities for the elderly."," he said.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.