Nutrition is a key factor in people's overall health. Hence, understanding the nature and dynamics of population-wide dietary preferences over time and space can be valuable in public health. To date, studies have leveraged small samples of participants via food intake logs or treatment data. We propose a complementary source of population data on nutrition obtained via Web logs. Our main contribution is a spatiotemporal analysis of population-wide dietary preferences through the lens of logs gathered by a widely distributed Web-browser add-on, using the access volume of recipes that users seek via search as a proxy for actual food consumption. We discover that variation in dietary preferences as expressed via recipe access has two main periodic components, one yearly and the other weekly, and that there exist characteristic regional differences in terms of diet within the United States. In a second study, we identify users who show evidence of having made an acute decision to lose weight. We characterize the shifts in interests that they express in their search queries and focus on changes in their recipe queries in particular. Last, we correlate nutritional time series obtained from recipe queries with time-aligned data on hospital admissions, aimed at understanding how behavioral data captured in Web logs might be harnessed to identify potential relationships between diet and acute health problems. In this preliminary study, we focus on patterns of sodium identified in recipes over time and patterns of admission for congestive heart failure, a chronic illness that can be exacerbated by increases in sodium intake.
Current food consumption patterns are influenced by a range of factors including an evolved preference for sugar and fat to palatability, nutritional value, culture, ease of production, and climate @cite_17 @cite_16 @cite_29 . Factors such as location and the price of locally produced foods can also affect nutrient intake @cite_28 . Others have mined recipe data from sites such as Allrecipes.com to better understand culinary practice; @cite_8 introduced the flavor network,' capturing the flavor compounds shared by culinary ingredients. This focuses on the creation of dishes (ingredient pairs in recipes) rather than estimating their consumption, something that we believe is possible via logs. Many studies have explored how people attempt to change their consumption habits as part of weight-loss programs @cite_26 @cite_6 . Psychological models, such as the transtheoretical model of change @cite_27 , can generalize to dieting @cite_22 , and in this realm, too, log-based methods are emerging for analyzing behavior @cite_31 .
@cite_26 @cite_22 @cite_8 @cite_28 @cite_29 @cite_6 @cite_27 @cite_31 @cite_16 @cite_17
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This study examined the degree to which hu- mans compensate for a reduction in dietary fat by increasing energy intake. Thirteen females were randomly assigned to either a low-fat diet (20-25 of calories as fat) or a control diet (35- 40 fat) for 1 1 wk. After a 7-wk washout period, the conditions were reversed for another 1 1 wk. Energy intake on the low-fat diet gradually increased by 0.092 kJ wk resulting in a total caloric compensation of35 by the end ofthe 1 1-wk treatment period. This failure to compensate calorically on the low-fat diet resulted in a deficit of 1.22 kJ d and a weight loss of 2.5 kg in I 1 wk, twice the amount ofweight lost on the control diet. These results demonstrate that body weight can be lost merely by reducing the fat content ofthe diet without the need to voluntarily restrict foodintake. AmfClinNutr l99l;53:ll24-9. This study evaluated how well predictions from the transtheoretical model (TTM) generalized from smoking to diet. Longitudinal data were used from a randomized control trial on reducing dietary fat consumption in adults (n =1207) recruited from primary care practices. Predictive power was evaluated by making a priori predictions of the magnitude of change expected in the TTM constructs of temptation, pros and cons, and 10 processes of change when an individual transitions between the stages of change. Generalizability was evaluated by testing predictions based on smoking data. Three sets of predictions were made for each stage: Precontemplation (PC), Contemplation (C) and Preparation (PR) based on stage transition categories of no progress, progress and regression determined by stage at baseline versus stage at the 12-month follow-up. Univariate analysis of variance between stage transition groups was used to calculate the effect size [omega squared (ω2)]. For diet predictions based on diet data, there was a high degree of confirmation: 92 , 95 and 92 for PC, C and PR, respectively. For diet predictions based on smoking data, 77 , 79 and 85 were confirmed, respectively, suggesting a moderate degree of generalizability. This study revised effect size estimates for future theory testing on the TTM applied to dietary fat. The cultural diversity of culinary practice, as illustrated by the variety of regional cuisines, raises the question of whether there are any general patterns that determine the ingredient combinations used in food today or principles that transcend individual tastes and recipes. We introduce a flavor network that captures the flavor compounds shared by culinary ingredients. Western cuisines show a tendency to use ingredient pairs that share many flavor compounds, supporting the so-called food pairing hypothesis. By contrast, East Asian cuisines tend to avoid compound sharing ingredients. Given the increasing availability of information on food preparation, our data-driven investigation opens new avenues towards a systematic understanding of culinary practice. FOOD AND CULTURE is the market-leading text for the cultural foods courses, providing information on the health, culture, food, and nutrition habits of the most common ethnic and racial groups living in the United States. It is designed to help health professionals, chefs, and others in the food service industry learn to work effectively with members of different ethnic and religious groups in a culturally sensitive manner. Authors Pamela Goyan Kittler and Kathryn P. Sucher include comprehensive coverage of key ethnic, religious, and regional groups, including Native Americans, Europeans, Africans, Mexicans and Central Americans, Caribbean Islanders, South Americans, Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Southeast Asians, Pacific Islanders, People of the Balkans, Middle Easterners, Asian Indians, and regional Americans. Background Trials comparing the effectiveness and safety of weight-loss diets are frequently limited by short follow-up times and high dropout rates. Methods In this 2-year trial, we randomly assigned 322 moderately obese subjects (mean age, 52 years; mean body-mass index [the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters], 31; male sex, 86 ) to one of three diets: low-fat, restricted-calorie; Mediterranean, restricted-calorie; or low-carbohydrate, non–restricted-calorie. The transtheoretical model posits that health behavior change involves progress through six stages of change: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance, and termination. Ten processes of change have been identified for producing progress along with decisional balance, self-efficacy, and temptations. Basic research has generated a rule of thumb for at-risk populations: 40 in precontemplation, 40 in contemplation, and 20 in preparation. Across 12 health behaviors, consistent patterns have been found between the pros and cons of changing and the stages of change. Applied research has demonstrated dramatic improvements in recruitment, retention, and progress using stage-matched interventions and proactive recruitment procedures. The most promising outcomes to date have been found with computer-based individualized and interactive interventions. The most promising enhancement to the computer-based programs are personalized counselors. One of the most striking results to date for stag... Healthcare is shifting from being reactive to preventive, with a focus on maintaining general wellness through positive decisions on diet, exercise, and lifestyle. In this paper, we investigate search behavior as people navigate the Web and find support for dietary and weight loss plans. Inspecting the Web search logs of nearly 2,000 users, we show that people progressively narrow their searches to support their progress through these plans. Interestingly, people that visit online health forums seem to progress through the plans' phases more quickly. Based on these results, we conducted a survey to further explore the roles and importance of online forums in supporting dieting and weight loss. Abstract Sixteen normal-weight subjects rated the perceived intensity of sweetness, fatness, and creaminess of 20 different mixtures of milk, cream, and sugar, and assigned an overall pleasantness (hedonic) rating to each sample. Intensity estimates increased as power functions of ingredient concentration and no significant mixture suppression effect was observed. In contrast, hedonic responses strongly depended on the relative proportions of sucrose and fat in the samples tasted. Hedonic preference ratings first rose and then declined with increasing sucrose concentration, but continued to rise with increasing dairy fat content. The addition of sucrose greatly enhanced hedonic ratings for high-fat stimuli. Changes in hedonic responsiveness were monitored using a mathematical modelling technique known as the Response Surface Method, which allows computerized simulation of the hedonic response surface as a function of perceived ingredient levels. Overnight fasting did not affect the perception or hedonics for sweet or “fatty” tastes. The observed preference for sweetened high-fat foods may have implications for the development of dietary-induced obesity in man. Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the selection of food by rats, humans, and other animals, and focuses on the complex problems, especially in food recognition and choice, in the omnivores or generalists. Food selection implies food ingestion. Food ingestion implies the presence of food. Therefore, background for the study of food selection includes the food search process: search images and search mechanisms for finding appropriate food stimuli in the environment. Honey bees provide fine examples of a highly developed food search system. Food selection also implies the ability to obtain or capture food, and to assimilate it, for which many often exotic mechanisms have been evolved. Given the presence of potential food, ingestion then usually depends on an internal state or detector indicating a “need” for the particular food or class of foods, and recognition of the potential food as food. Omnivores, such as rats and humans, faced with an enormous number of potential foods, must choose wisely. They are always in danger of eating something harmful or eating too much of a good thing. Although there are some helpful internal mechanisms, such as poison detoxification, nutrient biosynthesis, and nutrient storage, the major share of the burden for maintaining nutritional balance must out of necessity come from incorporation of appropriate nutrients in the environment and, hence, behavior. The most striking parallel between human and rat feeding is in the neophobia seen in both. The chapter discusses the multiple determinants of food selection in man that are divided into biological factors and effects of individual experience, on one hand, and cultural influences, on the other.