OBJECTIVE: The objectives of the study are to explore the determinants, motives, and barriers to healthy eating behaviors in online communities and provide insight into YouTube video commenters' perceptions and sentiments of healthy eating through text mining techniques.
METHODS: This paper applied text mining techniques to identify and categorize meaningful healthy eating determinants. These determinants were then incorporated into hypothetically defined constructs that reflect their thematic and sentimental nature in order to test our proposed model using a variance-based structural equation modeling procedure.
RESULTS: With a dataset of 4654 comments extracted from YouTube videos in the context of Malaysia, we apply a text mining method to analyze the perceptions and behavior of healthy eating. There were 10 clusters identified with regard to food ingredients, food price, food choice, food portion, well-being, cooking, and culture in the concept of healthy eating. The structural equation modeling results show that clusters are positively associated with healthy eating with all P values less than .001, indicating a statistical significance of the study results. People hold complex and multifaceted beliefs about healthy eating in the context of YouTube videos. Fruits and vegetables are the epitome of healthy foods. Despite having a favorable perception of healthy eating, people may not purchase commonly recognized healthy food if it has a premium price. People associate healthy eating with weight concerns. Food taste, variety, and availability are identified as reasons why Malaysians cannot act on eating healthily.
CONCLUSIONS: This study offers significant value to the existing literature of health-related studies by investigating the rich and diverse social media data gleaned from YouTube. This research integrated text mining analytics with predictive modeling techniques to identify thematic constructs and analyze the sentiments of healthy eating.
METHODS: Data are obtained from the Malaysia Non-Communicable Disease Surveillance-1. Logistic regressions are conducted using a multiracial (Malay, Chinese, Indian and other ethnic groups) sample of 2,447 observations to examine the factors affecting individual decisions to consume FV on a daily basis.
RESULTS: Based on the binary outcomes of whether individuals consumed FV daily, results indicate that work hours, education, age ethnicity, income, gender, smoking status, and location of residence are significantly correlated with daily fruit consumption. Daily vegetable consumption is significantly correlated with income, gender, health condition, and location of residence.
CONCLUSIONS: Our results imply the need for programs to educate and motivate consumers to make healthier dietary choices. Interventions to increase FV consumption by changing behaviors should be considered, as should those that increase public awareness of the dietary benefits of FV. These intervention programs should be targeted at and tailored toward individuals who are less educated, younger, less affluent, males, smokers, and metropolitan dwellers.
OBJECTIVE: The objective was to generate evidence on the association between WHO dietary recommendations and mortality from CVD, coronary artery disease (CAD), and stroke in the elderly aged ≥60 y.
DESIGN: We analyzed data from 10 prospective cohort studies from Europe and the United States comprising a total sample of 281,874 men and women free from chronic diseases at baseline. Components of the Healthy Diet Indicator (HDI) included saturated fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, mono- and disaccharides, protein, cholesterol, dietary fiber, and fruit and vegetables. Cohort-specific HRs adjusted for sex, education, smoking, physical activity, and energy and alcohol intakes were pooled by using a random-effects model.
RESULTS: During 3,322,768 person-years of follow-up, 12,492 people died of CVD. An increase of 10 HDI points (complete adherence to an additional WHO guideline) was, on average, not associated with CVD mortality (HR: 0.94; 95% CI: 0.86, 1.03), CAD mortality (HR: 0.99; 95% CI: 0.85, 1.14), or stroke mortality (HR: 0.95; 95% CI: 0.88, 1.03). However, after stratification of the data by geographic region, adherence to the HDI was associated with reduced CVD mortality in the southern European cohorts (HR: 0.87; 95% CI: 0.79, 0.96; I(2) = 0%) and in the US cohort (HR: 0.85; 95% CI: 0.83, 0.87; I(2) = not applicable).
CONCLUSION: Overall, greater adherence to the WHO dietary guidelines was not significantly associated with CVD mortality, but the results varied across regions. Clear inverse associations were observed in elderly populations in southern Europe and the United States.
OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the association between vegetable and fruit intake and steroid hormone receptor-defined breast cancer risk.
DESIGN: A total of 335,054 female participants in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort were included in this study (mean ± SD age: 50.8 ± 9.8 y). Vegetable and fruit intake was measured by country-specific questionnaires filled out at recruitment between 1992 and 2000 with the use of standardized procedures. Cox proportional hazards models were stratified by age at recruitment and study center and were adjusted for breast cancer risk factors.
RESULTS: After a median follow-up of 11.5 y (IQR: 10.1-12.3 y), 10,197 incident invasive breast cancers were diagnosed [3479 estrogen and progesterone receptor positive (ER+PR+); 1021 ER and PR negative (ER-PR-)]. Compared with the lowest quintile, the highest quintile of vegetable intake was associated with a lower risk of overall breast cancer (HRquintile 5-quintile 1: 0.87; 95% CI: 0.80, 0.94). Although the inverse association was most apparent for ER-PR- breast cancer (ER-PR-: HRquintile 5-quintile 1: 0.74; 95% CI: 0.57, 0.96; P-trend = 0.03; ER+PR+: HRquintile 5-quintile 1: 0.91; 95% CI: 0.79, 1.05; P-trend = 0.14), the test for heterogeneity by hormone receptor status was not significant (P-heterogeneity = 0.09). Fruit intake was not significantly associated with total and hormone receptor-defined breast cancer risk.
CONCLUSION: This study supports evidence that a high vegetable intake is associated with lower (mainly hormone receptor-negative) breast cancer risk.
OBJECTIVES: The review objectives were to summarize the evidence on prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity within developing countries in Asia and to synthesise the best epidemiological association between the dietary patterns of children in the developing countries in Asia and their weight status in terms of obesity.
INCLUSION CRITERIA: This review considered any studies that included children under 18 years of age who live in developing countries in Asia.This review of epidemiological association considered any analytical observational studies (case-control studies, cohort studies and analytical cross-sectional studies).The focus was to summarise the prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity within developing countries in Asia and synthesise the best available evidence on the relationship between dietary patterns as the exposure variable and childhood overweight and obesity as the outcome.
SEARCH STRATEGY: A three-step search strategy was utilised, with an initial limited search of MEDLINE, CINAHL and EMBASE to identify search terms. A second search using all identified keywords and index terms was undertaken across all included databases. Thirdly, the reference list of all identified reports and articles were searched for additional studies. Additional electronic databases searched included: ProQuest, Web of Science, and Scopus. Each database was searched from inception to September 2011, with an English language restriction.
METHODOLOGICAL QUALITY: All papers selected for retrieval were assessed independently by two reviewers using standardised critical appraisal instruments from the Joanna Briggs Institute.
DATA COLLECTION: Data was extracted from included studies by two reviewers independently using an adapted version of the standardised data extraction form from the Joanna Briggs Institute.
DATA SYNTHESIS: Meta-analysis was not possible because of the heterogeneity of studies in terms of methodology, statistical analyses and outcomes. A narrative summary of results is provided.
RESULTS: Fifteen studies were included in the review. The prevalence rates of childhood overweight and obesity in Asian developing countries ranged from 5.1% to 19.9% with no specific trend in age or gender. Several significant but inconsistent statistical associations between dietary patterns and overweight/obesity in children and adolescents were found [high energy diet (OR: 1.80 95%CI 1.10 to 2.90, p<0.05 vs 0.80 95%CI 0.60 to 1.10, p>0.05), low intake of fruit and vegetables (OR: 2.34 95%CI 1.04 to 5.24, p<0.001; 2.00 95%CI 1.10 to 3.40, p<0.05 vs 1.33 95%CI 0.44 to 4.05, p>0.05; 0.70 95%CI 0.50 to 1.00, p>0.05), high meat consumption (RR: 2.40 95%CI 1.00 to 5.60, p<0.05 vs 1.70 95%CI 1.00 to 2.70, p>0.05), eating out (OR: 12.0 95%CI 7.7 to 18.7, p<0.001; 1.70 95%CI 1.04 to 2.90, p<0.05 vs 1.20 95%CI 0.60 to 2.40, p>0.05), fast food intake (OR: 1.50 95%CI 1.12 to 2.02, p<0.05), presence of snacking (OR: 2.34 95%CI 1.01 to 5.54, p=0.05; 1.26 95%CI 1.13 to 1.40, p<0.05 vs 0.80 95%CI 0.48 to 1.32,p=0.377; 0.60 95%CI 0.30 to 0.99, p<0.05; 0.60 95%CI 0.40 to 0.90, p<0.05) and drinking sugar sweetened beverages (OR: 1.60 95%CI 1.02 to 2.50, p<0.05; 1.70 95%CI 1.10 to 2.70, p<0.05 vs 0.93 95%CI 0.82 to 1.05, p>0.05)]. The key limitation was the heterogeneity of studies in terms of measures of dietary patterns and obesity standards.
CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence rates of childhood overweight and obesity in Asian developing countries ranged from 5.1% to 19.9% with no specific trend in age or gender. From the practice perspective, several significant yet inconsistent statistical associations between dietary patterns and childhood overweight/obesity in children and adolescents were found.This review highlights the need for clinicians to monitor the effects of dietary change on the weight and health status of children in Asian countries.There is a need for valid measures of dietary intake and use of standardised international cut-offs for overweight and obesity, and for future researchers to conduct prospective studies to determine the causal relationship between Asian children's dietary pattern and their weight status.