Interactions of Behavioral Changes in Smoking, High-risk Drinking, and Weight Gain in a Population of 7.2 Million in Korea

• Published in: Journal of preventive medicine and public health Vol. 52; no. 4; pp. 234 - 241
• Main Authors: Kim, Yeon-Yong, Kang, Hee-Jin, Ha, Seongjun, Park, Jong Heon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Korea (South) Korean Society for Preventive Medicine 01.07.2019; 대한예방의학회
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Alcohol drinking; Alcoholism - complications; Alcoholism - psychology; Behavior Therapy - methods; Female; Health risk behaviors; Humans; Lifestyle; Male; Mass Screening - methods; Mass Screening - statistics & numerical data; Middle Aged; Original; Overweight; Overweight - epidemiology; Overweight - psychology; Republic of Korea - epidemiology; Risk Factors; Smoking; Smoking - adverse effects; Smoking - epidemiology; Smoking - psychology; Weight Gain; 예방의학; Republic of Korea; Health risk behaviors; Lifestyle; Alcohol drinking; Overweight; Smoking
• ISSN: 1975-8375; 2233-4521
• DOI: 10.3961/jpmph.18.290

To identify simultaneous behavioral changes in alcohol consumption, smoking, and weight using a fixed-effect model and to characterize their associations with disease status. This study included 7 000 529 individuals who participated in the national biennial health-screening program every 2 years from 2009 to 2016 and were aged 40 or more. We reconstructed the data into an individual-level panel dataset with 4 waves. We used a fixed-effect model for smoking, heavy alcohol drinking, and overweight. The independent variables were sex, age, lifestyle factors, insurance contribution, employment status, and disease status. Becoming a high-risk drinker and losing weight were associated with initiation or resumption of smoking. Initiation or resumption of smoking and weight gain were associated with non-high-risk drinkers becoming high-risk drinkers. Smoking cessation and becoming a high-risk drinker were associated with normal-weight participants becoming overweight. Participants with newly acquired diabetes mellitus, ischemic heart disease, stroke, and cancer tended to stop smoking, discontinue high-risk drinking, and return to a normal weight. These results obtained using a large-scale population-based database documented interactions among lifestyle factors over time.