(P22-032-24) Unhealthy Weight Management Behaviors and Social Determinants of Health Among the Emerging Adult Population: A Secondary Data Analysis

Objectives: While unhealthy weight management behaviors (UWMB) such as fasting and taking weight loss pills have been highlighted as risky health behaviors, there is a lack of research focusing on emerging adults aged 18–25 years. Understanding social determinants of health, including socioeconomic factors, is crucial, as they often contribute to increased health risk behaviors in this population. Thus, this study aimed to identify the UWMB engagement patterns in emerging adulthood and explore differences in UWMB practices according to social determinants of health.

Methods: This study is a secondary analysis of data from the 2022 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The sample for the study comprised 350 individuals aged 19–25 years. Using SPSS 26.0 program, descriptive statistics regarding UWMB of the participants in the past year were identified. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to determine differences in UWMB by social determinants of health, including gender, education, income, residential area, and social protection.

Results: Of the participants, 24.6% (n=86) engaged in UWMB, with 70.9% (n=61) being female. BMI was distributed as follows: 9.5% (n=4) underweight, 39.5% (n=34) normal weight, 15.1% (n=13) overweight, and 40.7% (n=35) obese. Additionally, of those who were under or normal weight, 18.4% overestimated their weight. The most prevalent UWMB practices included skipping meals (66.3%, n=57), using dietary supplements (25.6%, n=22), fasting (15.1%, n=13), and taking weight loss pills (10.5%, n=9). Participants with adverse social determinants of health, particularly females (z=-2.852, p=.006), and those with low income (z=2.061, p=.039), showed significantly high UWMB rates, while no significant differences in UWMB were observed by education, residential area, and social protection.

Conclusions: Given the prevalence of UWMB among the emerging adult population and the importance of identifying both individual and social determinants of health, further research is warranted to explore the interplay of various factors influencing UWMB during this developmental stage. The impact of gender and socioeconomic vulnerability on this risk behavior should be analyzed using diverse populations.

Funding Sources: This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT).