2008 Volume 35 Issue 4 Pages 384-390
Objectives The aim of this study was to obtain ideas regarding which workers should be encouraged to develop good dietary habits using an anonymous self-administered questionnaire.
Design A cross-sectional study.
Setting and Participants The questionnaires responses of 389 male workers in a manufacturing company were analyzed. We sought to identify factors [e.g. age, sex, living alone, type of occupation (field worker or office worker), history of lifestyle-related diseases, overtime working hours and commuting time] affecting dietary lifestyles. We performed logistic regression analysis to identify factors associated with their breakfast habits (eating breakfast daily), leisurely dietary lifestyle (taking more than 30 minutes on at least one meal per day), regular dietary lifestyle (having meals at the same time every day), and vegetable consumption (eating vegetables with every meal) . We also performed multiple regression analysis to identify factors affecting the length of time between finishing dinner and bedtime.
Results The logistic regression analysis showed that both age and living alone were significantly associated with eating breakfast. Age was also significantly associated with regular dietary habits, and living alone was significantly associated with both leisurely dietary lifestyles and vegetable consumption. Occupation type was significantly associated with vegetable consumption. Multiple regression analysis showed that those who worked more overtime hours and workers with longer commuting times had shorter lengths of time between finishing dinner and bedtime.
Conclusions We suggest lifestyle counseling, designed to promote good dietary habits, for young workers, those living alone, field workers, those who work a lot of overtime, and workers with longer commuting times.
