Dietary Patterns (Poster Session)

(P13-049-25) Relationship Between Fermented Food Consumption Patterns and Hs-CRP Among Middle-Aged Koreans: Data From 2015–2018 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination

Sunday, June 1, 2025

11:45 AM - 12:45 PM ET

Location: Poster Board C-47

Presenting Author(s)

CS

Cheongmin Sohn

Professor
Wonkwang University
Iksan, Cholla-bukto, Republic of Korea

Co-Author(s)

SO

Sori On

Wonkwang University, Republic of Korea
WN

Woori Na, n/a

university lecturer
Wonkwang University
Iksan, Cholla-bukto, Republic of Korea
EL

Eunji Lee

Wonkwang University, Cholla-bukto, Republic of Korea

Disclosure(s):

Cheongmin Sohn: No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.

Objectives: Fermented foods offer health benefits like aiding digestion and preventing chronic diseases. However, research on fermented food consumption in Korea and its relationship with health indicators is limited. This study analyzed consumption patterns and their association with hs-CRP in middle-aged Koreans.

Methods: Data from 7,309 participants aged 40–64 from the 6th–7th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES, 2015–2018) were analyzed. hs-CRP levels were grouped into three categories: < 1 mg/dL, 1–3 mg/dL, and ≥3 mg/dL. Latent profile analysis (LPA) was conducted on 10 fermented food categories: grains, fermented pastes, vinegars, vegetables, fish, fruits, dairy products, alcoholic beverages, sauces, and drinks, using Mplus 8.11. Patterns with significant LMR-LRT test values and an entropy score ≥0.7 were adopted. Associations between fermented food consumption patterns and inflammatory markers were analyzed using cross-tabulation in SPSS 29.0 (p < 0.05).

Results: LPA identified four patterns: ‘Alcohol and Fermented Paste Consumption Centered (AFPC),’ ‘Grain and Fermented Paste Consumption Centered (GFPC),’ ‘Dairy Product Consumption Centered (DPC),’ and ‘Overall Low Fermented Food Consumption(OLFC).’ Pattern names excluded the vegetable category due to the common consumption of kimchi and pickled vegetables in Korea. Of 7,309 participants (2,852 men and 4,457 women), 3,933 (53.8%) were in the ‘OLFC’ group, 1,227 (16.8%) in ‘GFPC,’ 1,097 (15.0%) in ‘AFPC,’ and 1,052 (14.4%) in ‘DPC.’ For hs-CRP levels < 1 mg/dL, the highest proportions were in the ‘AFPC’ (866, 78.9%) and ‘DPC‘ (830, 78.9%) groups, while the lowest was in the ‘OLFC’ group (2,899, 73.7%) (p < 0.001). For levels ≥3 mg/dL, the ‘OLFC’ group had the highest (258, 6.6%) and ‘DPC‘ the lowest (50, 4.8%) (p < 0.001).

Conclusions: This study classified four patterns of fermented food consumption and their association with inflammatory markers. The ‘Overall Low Fermented Food Consumption’ group had higher hs-CRP levels, indicating that adequate fermented food intake may help reduce inflammation.

Funding Sources: This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea Government (MSIP) (No. NRF-RS-2024-00463020).