This study was conducted to provide a health-promoting lifestyle model for highly educated married, employed and unemployed women by considering the following: assessment of dietary intake and physical activity that are essential components of health-...
This study was conducted to provide a health-promoting lifestyle model for highly educated married, employed and unemployed women by considering the following: assessment of dietary intake and physical activity that are essential components of health-promoting lifestyle, as well as identify factors that affect health-promoting lifestyle, of the effect’s strength, and, finally, of the mechanism of such effect on both groups.
It is a direct interview, cross-sectional study. The subjects were 250 married, unemployed women and 236 married, employed women as teachers. Women who have not graduated college, work only part-time or have no current spouse were excluded.
The instruments used were the health-promoting lifestyle profile(Walker, et al. 1987), 24 hours recall method for dietary intake, the habitual physical activity questionnaire(Backe, et al. 1982), the self-efficacy scale(Sherer, et al. 1982), the multidimensional fatigue scale(Chang 2000), the questionnaire about role(number of role, role importance, role overload)and family’s assistance.
Assessment of dietary intake shows that the employed women consumed the higher amount of iron, vitamin B1 and vitamin B2 while the unemployed women consumed the higher amount of fat, cholesterol, sodium, vitamin C and folic acid. P/M/S ratio being 1/1.18/1.05 and 1/1.05/0.87, respectively, for the unemployed women and the employed women, those of unemployed respondents had higher saturated fat intake than those of employed. It is in excess of standard ratio(1/1/1) as Korean RDA. At the same time, in those of unemployed respondents, percent of energy intake from fat(24.8%, 23.2%) and animal fat(12.4%, 11.4%) were higher than those of employed respondents. The mean daily nutrient intake of calcium, zinc, and iron for both groups of respondents were lower than Korean RDA. And the both groups had phosphorus as the highest nutrient and calcium as the lowest nutrient of INQ(index of nutritional quality) while nutrients, with the INQ being less than 1, were calcium and iron. In consumption of food groups, even though the total amount of food consumption for the unemployed women were higher than those of employed and the Korean adult, the unemployed women consumed much less amount of food from fungi and mushrooms, seaweeds, fishes and shell fishes. Therefore, it shows that the content of meal and nutrient intake condition are out of balance for the unemployed women.
In assessment of physical activity, 34% of the unemployed women and 60.2% of the employed women do not exercise habitually. It revealed that highly educated married women, especially employed women were not enough physical activities such as sports and exercise in leisure time.
According to the multiple regression analysis performed to find the factors’ effect on stress, depression, fatigue, self-efficacy and health-promoting lifestyle, for both groups of respondents, the higher role overload resulted in increased stress, depression and fatigue while the lower role importance resulted in increased stress only. Also, with higher fatigue, highly educated married women would have lowered self-efficacy scores. And with fewer number of preschool children, higher self-efficacy, highly educate married women would have higher HPLP(health-promoting lifestyle profile) scores. In differences between highly educated, unemployed and employed married women, with fewer number of role, higher role importance, unemployed women would have higher HPLP scores. Also, with higher husband’s assistance, lower stress, depression and fatigue, employed women would have higher HPLP scores.
According to the structural equation model for the causal relationship and the pathway among influencing factors, for both groups of respondents, it is shown that the role and assistance variables either increased or decreased stress, depression and fatigue. Especially, for the unemployed women, the variables of role had influence directly not only on stress, depression and fatigue but also on health-promoting lifestyle. For both groups of respondents, stress and fatigue had a direct effect on self-efficacy and health promoting lifestyle when depression had an interaction with self-efficacy only, without any direct effect on health-promoting lifestyle. For both groups of respondents, the number of preschool children had direct effect on health-promoting lifestyle as the fewer number of preschool children is positive for health-promoting lifestyle. Family income had a direct effect on fatigue of the unemployed women and on depression and health-promoting lifestyle of the employed women. Thus, with more family income, highly educated married women would have lower physical mental symptoms and higher health-promoting lifestyle.
From this result, first, nutrition education and guidance about intake of fat, especially animal fat, are required for the unemployed women. Also, the highly educated married, unemployed and employed women should increase the consumption of food rich in iron and calcium to prevent anemia and osteoporosis, while should decrease the intake of phosphorus to balance proportion of calcium and phosphorus. Second, an exercise-centered health-promoting program for highly educated, married women is demanded in the community or workplace. Especially, the program should be designed to be easily approachable for highly educated, employed married women who have more of a role burden compared to unemployed women. Third, since harmful physical mental symptoms such as stress, depression, fatigue are alleviated through the intermediary of self-efficacy, especially depression had an interaction with self-efficacy, an health education to improve self-efficacy for highly educated, married women is demanded. Fourth, it is found that the role and assistance variables are powerful factors to raise stress, and the number of preschool children is negative factor of health-promoting lifestyle for the highly educated married, unemployed and employed women. Therefore, an family-oriented educational program to acknowledge the significance of married woman’s roles, and the effective art of rearing infants, for example the expansion of kindergartens within the workplace or community, should be framed.