Dietary Habits, Subjective Health, and Body Mass Index among Individuals with an Attitude toward Both Practicing a Healthy Diet and Enjoyable Eating

Abstract

Objective: This study investigated the combination of attitudes toward practicing a healthy diet and subjective diet-related quality of life (SDQOL) and their association with the frequency of having a healthy diet, subjective health, and body mass index (BMI).

Methods: Data were obtained from 1,000 workers aged 20~64 years living in Tokyo, using an online research platform. Participants were categorized into four groups based on their attitudes toward practicing a healthy diet and SDQOL; no healthy diet and low SDQOL, no healthy diet and high SDQOL, healthy diet and low SDQOL, and healthy diet and high SDQOL. Associations between these groups and demographics were examined using the Chi-square test. Binomial logistic regression models examined the frequency of having a healthy diet. Multinomial logistic regression analysis examined subjective health and BMI.

Results: The healthy diet and high SDQOL group mostly comprised women, cohabitate, and who had an annual household income of ≥6 million yen. Compared to the no healthy diet and low SDQOL group, the healthy diet and high SDQOL group had a healthy diet daily (odds ratio [95% confidence interval]; 2.41 [1.54~3.79]), more likely to have good subjective health (7.83 [4.42~13.9]), and less likely to be underweight (0.49 [0.27~0.88]) or obese (0.45 [0.27~0.76]).

Conclusion: Individuals with attitude toward practicing a healthy diet and high SDQOL had a higher frequency of having a healthy diet, suggesting that they had subjective health and appropriate body weight.