Relationships between nutrient patterns and geodemographic characteristics in Korea

Aim: It is important to identify differences in nutrient patterns by region so that local governments can be better equipped to design effective public health plans in their administrative areas. The aim of this study was to identify the nutrient patterns of Korean adults living in various regions with different dietary cultures. We explored if there are regional associations with nutritional patterns along with other socio-demographic characteristics. Methods: We utilised data for 17 415 adults who participated in the 2010–2012 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES V). First, we reduced 18 nutrient intake variables to nutrient patterns via exploratory factor analysis. Next, we used multiple linear regression analysis to identify the associations between nutrient patterns and geodemographic characteristics. Results: Five nutrient patterns were identified: ‘Meat-Related Nutrients', ‘Minerals', ‘Fibre/Vitamin C', ‘Vitamin A' and ‘Retinol'. Nutrient patterns in the Honam and Jeju region were significantly different from those in the Capital region. Age, gender, household income, education level and number of family members were significantly associated with the identified nutrient patterns. Conclusions: We confirmed that there are differences in nutrient patterns by region. Our results suggest that the Honam and Jeju region should implement different regional public health plans from those in the Capital region.