Some neglected issues in food demand analysis: retail-level demand, health information and product quality

Food demand analysis is dominated by the econometric estimation of demand systems based on aggregate market data and steady progress has been made in analytical techniques. Yet some issues have been neglected in food demand analysis which are crucial for understanding recent consumption trends in industrialised countries. Three of these issues are dealt with here: analysis of food demand at the retail level; influence of health information on food demand; and importance of product quality for food demand. It is shown that answers to important questions in these areas can be given when large and unconventional data sets are used.Agribusiness, Demand and Price Analysis, Health Economics and Policy,

Real-time food intake classification and energy expenditure estimation on a mobile device

© 2015 IEEE.Assessment of food intake has a wide range of applications in public health and life-style related chronic disease management. In this paper, we propose a real-time food recognition platform combined with daily activity and energy expenditure estimation. In the proposed method, food recognition is based on hierarchical classification using multiple visual cues, supported by efficient software implementation suitable for realtime mobile device execution. A Fischer Vector representation together with a set of linear classifiers are used to categorize food intake. Daily energy expenditure estimation is achieved by using the built-in inertial motion sensors of the mobile device. The performance of the vision-based food recognition algorithm is compared to the current state-of-the-art, showing improved accuracy and high computational efficiency suitable for realtime feedback. Detailed user studies have also been performed to demonstrate the practical value of the software environment

The developmental effects of media-ideal internalization and self-objectification processes on adolescents’ negative body-feelings, dietary restraint, and binge eating

Despite accumulated experimental evidence of the negative effects of exposure to media-idealized images, the degree to which body image, and eating related disturbances are caused by media portrayals of gendered beauty ideals remains controversial. On the basis of the most up-to-date meta-analysis of experimental studies indicating that media-idealized images have the most harmful and substantial impact on vulnerable individuals regardless of gender (i.e., “internalizers” and “self-objectifiers”), the current longitudinal study examined the direct and mediated links posited in objectification theory among media-ideal internalization, self-objectification, shame and anxiety surrounding the body and appearance, dietary restraint, and binge eating. Data collected from 685 adolescents aged between 14 and 15 at baseline (47 % males), who were interviewed and completed standardized measures annually over a 3-year period, were analyzed using a structural equation modeling approach. Results indicated that media-ideal internalization predicted later thinking and scrutinizing of one’s body from an external observer’s standpoint (or self-objectification), which then predicted later negative emotional experiences related to one’s body and appearance. In turn, these negative emotional experiences predicted subsequent dietary restraint and binge eating, and each of these core features of eating disorders influenced each other. Differences in the strength of these associations across gender were not observed, and all indirect effects were significant. The study provides valuable information about how the cultural values embodied by gendered beauty ideals negatively influence adolescents’ feelings, thoughts and behaviors regarding their own body, and on the complex processes involved in disordered eating. Practical implications are discussed

Of mice and men: Sparse statistical modeling in cardiovascular genomics

In high-throughput genomics, large-scale designed experiments are becoming common, and analysis approaches based on highly multivariate regression and anova concepts are key tools. Shrinkage models of one form or another can provide comprehensive approaches to the problems of simultaneous inference that involve implicit multiple comparisons over the many, many parameters representing effects of design factors and covariates. We use such approaches here in a study of cardiovascular genomics. The primary experimental context concerns a carefully designed, and rich, gene expression study focused on gene-environment interactions, with the goals of identifying genes implicated in connection with disease states and known risk factors, and in generating expression signatures as proxies for such risk factors. A coupled exploratory analysis investigates cross-species extrapolation of gene expression signatures--how these mouse-model signatures translate to humans. The latter involves exploration of sparse latent factor analysis of human observational data and of how it relates to projected risk signatures derived in the animal models. The study also highlights a range of applied statistical and genomic data analysis issues, including model specification, computational questions and model-based correction of experimental artifacts in DNA microarray data.Comment: Published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/07-AOAS110 in the Annals of Applied Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aoas/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

Fuzzy Logic in Clinical Practice Decision Support Systems

Computerized clinical guidelines can provide significant benefits to health outcomes and costs, however, their effective implementation presents significant problems. Vagueness and ambiguity inherent in natural (textual) clinical guidelines is not readily amenable to formulating automated alerts or advice. Fuzzy logic allows us to formalize the treatment of vagueness in a decision support architecture. This paper discusses sources of fuzziness in clinical practice guidelines. We consider how fuzzy logic can be applied and give a set of heuristics for the clinical guideline knowledge engineer for addressing uncertainty in practice guidelines. We describe the specific applicability of fuzzy logic to the decision support behavior of Care Plan On-Line, an intranet-based chronic care planning system for General Practitioners

Strategies for online personalised nutrition advice employed in the development of the eNutri web app

The internet has considerable potential to improve health-related food choice at low-cost. Online solutions in this field can be deployed quickly and at very low cost, especially if they are not dependent on bespoke devices or offline processes such as the provision and analysis of biological samples. One key challenge is the automated delivery of personalised dietary advice in a replicable, scalable and inexpensive way, using valid nutrition assessment methods and effective recommendations. We have developed a web-based personalised nutrition system (eNutri) which assesses dietary intake using a validated graphical FFQ and provides personalised food-based dietary advice automatically. Its effectiveness was evaluated during an online randomised controlled trial dietary intervention (EatWellUK study) in which personalised dietary advice was compared with general population recommendations (control) delivered online. The present paper presents a review of literature relevant to this work, and describes the strategies used during the development of the eNutri app. Its design and source code have been made publicly available under a permissive open source license, so that other researchers and organisations can benefit from this work. In a context where personalised diet advice has great potential for health promotion and disease prevention at-scale and yet is not currently being offered in the most popular mobile apps, the strategies and approaches described in the present paper can help to inform and advance the design and development of technologies for personalised nutrition

A gender-sensitised weight loss and healthy living programme for overweight and obese men delivered by Scottish Premier League football clubs (FFIT): a pragmatic randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of male obesity is increasing but few men take part in weight loss programmes. We assessed the effect of a weight loss and healthy living programme on weight loss in football (soccer) fans. METHODS: We did a two-group, pragmatic, randomised controlled trial of 747 male football fans aged 35-65 years with a body-mass index (BMI) of 28 kg/m(2) or higher from 13 Scottish professional football clubs. Participants were randomly assigned with SAS (version 9·2, block size 2-9) in a 1:1 ratio, stratified by club, to a weight loss programme delivered by community coaching staff in 12 sessions held every week. The intervention group started a weight loss programme within 3 weeks, and the comparison group were put on a 12 month waiting list. All participants received a weight management booklet. Primary outcome was mean difference in weight loss between groups at 12 months, expressed as absolute weight and a percentage of their baseline weight. Primary outcome assessment was masked. Analyses were based on intention to treat. The trial is registered with Current Controlled Trials, number ISRCTN32677491. FINDINGS: 374 men were allocated to the intervention group and 374 to the comparison group. 333 (89%) of the intervention group and 355 (95%) of the comparison group completed 12 month assessments. At 12 months the mean difference in weight loss between groups, adjusted for baseline weight and club, was 4·94 kg (95% CI 3·95-5·94) and percentage weight loss, similarly adjusted, was 4·36% (3·64-5·08), both in favour of the intervention (p<0·0001). Eight serious adverse events were reported, five in the intervention group (lost consciousness due to drugs for pre-existing angina, gallbladder removal, hospital admission with suspected heart attack, ruptured gut, and ruptured Achilles tendon) and three in the comparison group (transient ischaemic attack, and two deaths). Of these, two adverse events were reported as related to participation in the programme (gallbladder removal and ruptured Achilles tendon). INTERPRETATION: The FFIT programme can help a large proportion of men to lose a clinically important amount of weight; it offers one effective strategy to challenge male obesity. FUNDING: Scottish Government and The UK Football Pools funded delivery of the programme through a grant to the Scottish Premier League Trust. The National Institute for Health Research Public Health Research Programme funded the assessment (09/3010/06)