Association between Vitamin C and the Prevalence of Obesity among Korean Adults - The Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2016-2017 -
This study investigates the relationship between vitamin C intake and obesity prevalence among Korean adults. Based on data of the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2016-2017), a total of 1,356 participants were included in this analysis. Increasing the dietary vitamin C intake resulted in a significantly decreased occurrence of BMI obesity prevalence (p for trend=0.0194) and WC obesity prevalence (p for trend=0.0452). Moreover, increasing the dietary vitamin C intake of Korean adults having a high frequency of eating breakfast resulted in significantly decreased BMI obesity prevalence (p for trend=0.0406) and WC obesity prevalence (p for trend=0.0432). Among the Korean adults who ate out frequently, decreased BMI obesity prevalence was determined with increased intakes of dietary vitamin C (p for trend=0.0193) and total vitamin C (food and dietary supplements) (p for trend=0.0429), whereas significant decrease in WC obesity prevalence was observed with increased dietary vitamin C intake (p for trend=0.0484). Our results provide conclusive evidence that consumption of dietary vitamin C is associated with obesity prevalence in Korean adults, according to their habits of eating breakfast and frequency of eating out.