scholarly journals Nudging sugar portions: a real-world experiment

BMC Nutrition ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karoline Villinger ◽  
Deborah R. Wahl ◽  
Kai Engel ◽  
Britta Renner
Keyword(s):  
Real World ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Intervention Strategy ◽  
Overweight And Obesity ◽  
Environmental Intervention ◽  
Daily Consumption ◽  
Public Places ◽  
Added Sugar ◽  
Reduce Sugar ◽  
Default Condition

Abstract Background Sugar overconsumption is a major contributor to overweight and obesity, with daily consumption greatly exceeding the WHO’s recommendations. The aim of the present study was to determine whether using a functionally modified sugar shaker as a food environment nudge could be an effective means to reduce the sugar used in hot beverages. Methods Sugar shakers were functionally modified to reduce the amount of sugar in each pour by 47%. A real-world experiment was conducted to compare the amount of added sugar per hot beverage during default and nudge conditions over the course of four weeks (17,233 hot beverages sold) in a university take-away café. In addition, 59 customers were surveyed to evaluate the acceptance of the intervention. Results Modifying the functional design of sugar shakers resulted in a reduction of added sugar by 20% (d = 1.35) compared to the default condition. In the survey, most participants evaluated the intervention strategy positively. Conclusion The present real-world experiment demonstrates that a simple environmental intervention can significantly reduce sugar consumption in public places while meeting with consumer approval, making it a promising means of reducing sugar overconsumption.

scholarly journals A multifaceted approach increased staff confidence to develop outside of school hours care as a health promoting setting

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Forde ◽  
Leesa Costello ◽  
Amanda Devine ◽  
Ros Sambell ◽  
Ruth Wallace
Keyword(s):  
Health Promotion ◽  
Intervention Strategy ◽  
Health Behaviours ◽  
Overweight And Obesity ◽  
Minimum Requirement ◽  
Self Confidence ◽  
Menu Planning ◽  
Training Post ◽  
Health Promoting ◽  
High Level

Abstract Background Outside-of-school-hours-care (OSHC) services are well positioned to influence the health behaviours of 489, 800 Australian children, and are an important setting for health promotion given the current rates of childhood overweight and obesity and associated health risks. OSHC Professionals are ideally placed to become positive influencers in this setting, although they may require training and support to confidently perform this role. This study piloted a multifaceted intervention strategy to increase OSHC Professional’s confidence and competencies, to support a health promoting OSHC environment with a nutrition and physical activity focus. Methods A mixed methods approach was used. Nineteen OSHC Professionals participated in the study, including a face-to-face workshop, supported by a closed Facebook group and website. Role adequacy (self-confidence) and legitimacy (professional responsibility) were measured pre and post workshop and evaluated using non-parametric statistics. Facebook interactions were monitored, and four participants undertook qualitative exit interviews to discuss their experiences with the intervention. Results Pre-workshop 68% of participants had not received any OSHC-specific health promotion training. Post-workshop significant improvements in confidence about menu planning, accessing nutrition information, activities and recipes was observed (P < 0.05 for all). A significant improvement was observed in role support and role related training (P < 0.05). A high level of support and interaction was observed between participants on Facebook and the website was reported a useful repository of information. Conclusions Health promotion training, combined with positive social connections, shared learning experiences, and a website improved OSHC Professionals confidence and capacity to provide a health promoting OSHC environment. Health promotion professional development for OSHC professionals should be mandated as a minimum requirement, and such learning opportunities should be scaffolded with support available through social media interactions and website access.

scholarly journals Multiple Noisy Label Distribution Propagation for Crowdsourcing

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hao Zhang ◽  
Liangxiao Jiang ◽  
Wenqiang Xu
Keyword(s):  
Supervised Learning ◽  
Real World ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Ground Truth ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Nearest Neighbors ◽  
True Label ◽  
Real World Datasets ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Label Distribution

Crowdsourcing services provide a fast, efficient, and cost-effective means of obtaining large labeled data for supervised learning. Ground truth inference, also called label integration, designs proper aggregation strategies to infer the unknown true label of each instance from the multiple noisy label set provided by ordinary crowd workers. However, to the best of our knowledge, nearly all existing label integration methods focus solely on the multiple noisy label set itself of the individual instance while totally ignoring the intercorrelation among multiple noisy label sets of different instances. To solve this problem, a multiple noisy label distribution propagation (MNLDP) method is proposed in this study. MNLDP first transforms the multiple noisy label set of each instance into its multiple noisy label distribution and then propagates its multiple noisy label distribution to its nearest neighbors. Consequently, each instance absorbs a fraction of the multiple noisy label distributions from its nearest neighbors and yet simultaneously maintains a fraction of its own original multiple noisy label distribution. Promising experimental results on simulated and real-world datasets validate the effectiveness of our proposed method.

scholarly journals Conflict of Interest Between Regulatory Agencies on Telecommunication Sector And Consequences of Improper Telecommunication Mast Installation in Nigeria

Law and World ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 47-59
Keyword(s):  
Conflict Of Interest ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Environmental Hazards ◽  
Regulatory Agencies ◽  
Environmental Standards ◽  
Telecommunication Sector ◽  
Public Places ◽  
Regulatory Bodies ◽  
Materials Used ◽  
National Environmental

This paper examines various laws governing telecommunication installations in Nigeria with a view to addressing the perceived shortcomings in the laws. While the National Environmental Standards Regulatory and Enforcement Agency Act (NESREA Act) and the National Communications Commission (NCC Act) have been enacted to solve the problems associated with the effects of telecommunication mast installation in public places, the outcome of these laws seem inadequate for failure to provide effective means of enforcing same. The study considered the provisions of NESREA Act which is the principal Law enacted for ensuring that environ- mental standards are maintained and protected in Nigeria and the provisions of NCC Act which is the law that establishes the principal body which regulates telecommunication installations in Nigeria as well as other legislations. While NESREA in its Regulation provided for a setback of 10 metres, the NCC Act provided for a setback of 5 metres, which often conflicts and put victims at disadvantage and also conflict between the two regulatory bodies. It was observed that serious environmental hazards are linked to installation of tele- communication masts within/close to residential premises. Among these are leukemia, cancer, cracks on the buildings, pollution, such as water, land and air. The problems also include telecommunication masts falling on buildings and sometimes death due to sub- standard materials used in the installation as against the stated standard by the controlling regulatory bodies.

Influence of 8-week daily consumption of a new product combining green coffee hydroxycinnamates and beta-glucans on polyphenol bioavailability in subjects with overweight and obesity

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Ángel Seguido ◽  
Rosa María Tarradas ◽  
Susana González ◽  
Joaquín García-Cordero ◽  
Beatriz Sarria ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Extracts ◽  
New Product ◽  
Overweight And Obesity ◽  
Green Coffee ◽  
Daily Consumption ◽  
Dietary Fibres ◽  
Associated Diseases ◽  
Beta Glucans ◽  
New Strategies

Nutraceuticals based on plant extracts rich in polyphenols, as well as dietary fibres, are new strategies to fight overweight/obesity and associated diseases. However, to understand the potential effects of polyphenols...

scholarly journals Children’s Consumption Patterns and Their Parent’s Perception of a Healthy Diet

Nutrients ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 2322
Author(s):  
Jessica Eliason ◽  
Francesco Acciai ◽  
Robin S. DeWeese ◽  
Sonia Vega-López ◽  
Punam Ohri-Vachaspati
Keyword(s):  
New Jersey ◽  
Sugar Content ◽  
Dietary Guidelines ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
Health Study ◽  
Sugar Consumption ◽  
Dietary Interventions ◽  
Daily Consumption ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Added Sugar

This study aims to examine children’s fruit, vegetable, and added sugar consumption relative to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the American Heart Association’s recommendations, as well as to compare children’s reported consumption with parental perception of the child’s overall diet quality. Data were drawn from 2 independent, cross sectional panels (2009–10 and 2014–15) of the New Jersey Child Health Study. The analytical sample included 2229 households located in five New Jersey cities. Daily consumption of fruit (cups), vegetables (cups), and added sugars (teaspoons) for all children (3–18 years old) were based on parent reports. Multivariate linear regression analyses estimated children’s adjusted fruit, vegetable, and added sugar consumption across parents’ perception categories (Disagree; Somewhat Agree; and Strongly Agree that their child eats healthy). Although only a small proportion of children meet recommendations, the majority of parents strongly agreed that their child ate healthy. Nonetheless, significant differences, in the expected direction, were observed in vegetable and fruit consumption (but not sugar) across parental perceptional categories for most age/sex groups. Dietary interventions tailored to parents should include specific quantity and serving-size information for fruit and vegetable recommendations, based on their child’s age/sex, and highlight sources of added sugar and their sugar content.

scholarly journals Family physicians’ knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding the weight effects of added sugar

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 205031211880124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Mackey ◽  
Melissa A Plegue ◽  
Marian Deames ◽  
Matthew Kittle ◽  
Kendrin R Sonneville ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Family Physician ◽  
Family Physicians ◽  
The United States ◽  
Overweight And Obesity ◽  
P Value ◽  
Dietary Counseling ◽  
Added Sugar ◽  
Attitudes And Behaviors ◽  
Dietary Sugar ◽  
And Behaviors

Background and objectives: Added sugar consumption is a major risk factor for negative health outcomes and family physicians play an important role in educating patients regarding nutrition behaviors, such as consumption of added dietary sugar. The aim of this study was to describe the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of family physicians regarding added dietary sugar. Methods: An online questionnaire was administered to family physician members of the Council of Academic Family Medicine organizations, which support teaching physicians that train family physicians throughout the United States. Survey items underwent rigorous pilot and cognitive testing prior to administration. Descriptive statistics and Pearson’s chi-square test were performed to evaluate physician’s dietary counseling for patients with overweight and obesity. Results: Among practicing family physician members (n = 1196), 72% reported providing dietary counseling to the majority (⩾50%) of their patients with overweight and obesity. Most (90%) believed that their counseling was ineffective for the majority of patients. Frequency of counseling was significantly associated with beliefs about counseling effectiveness (p-value < 0.001). Nearly all physicians (97%) advised against consuming sugary beverages, while advising patients to limit foods with added sugar was less common (82%). Discussion: Dietary counseling is often, but not always, provided to patients with overweight and obesity by family physicians in our sample, though most physicians believed their counseling is ineffective. National attention to added sugar as a risk for poor health should serve as a catalyst for renewed efforts from primary care educators and clinicians to engage in innovative practices to empower at-risk patients to improve their nutrition.

Videos With Integrated AAC Visual Scene Displays to Enhance Participation in Community and Vocational Activities: Pilot Case Study With an Adolescent With Autism Spectrum Disorder

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (12) ◽  
pp. 55-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tara O'Neill ◽  
Janice Light ◽  
David McNaughton
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Real World ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Visual Scene ◽  
Task Completion ◽  
Complex Communication Needs ◽  
Communication Needs

In order to maximize the positive outcomes of augmentative and alternative communication interventions, it is critical that interventions support the participation of individuals with complex communication needs within real-world interactions in their natural environments. A pilot case study was used to evaluate the effects of videos with integrated visual scene displays (VSDs), displayed on a tablet-based application (app), on the percent of task steps completed independently within three community and vocational activities by an adolescent with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The results indicated noticeable gains in independent task completion and communication across contexts while using the video VSD app after only a few intervention sessions. These results provide preliminary evidence that videos with integrated VSDs may serve as an effective means to maximize independent participation and communication for individuals with complex communication needs and ASD in real-world contexts. Ultimately, this assistive technology could reduce dependence on aides (e.g., job coaches, paraprofessionals) and create increased opportunities for employment and independent participation in meaningful community activities for individuals with complex communication needs.

scholarly journals Parental Adherence to Ideal Cardiovascular Health Status Was Associated With a Substantially Lower Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity in Their Offspring Aged 6–18 Years

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanhui Li ◽  
Di Gao ◽  
Zhaogeng Yang ◽  
Ying Ma ◽  
Manman Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Health Status ◽  
Cardiovascular Health ◽  
Intervention Strategy ◽  
Childhood Overweight ◽  
Overweight And Obesity ◽  
Lower Prevalence ◽  
Ideal Cardiovascular Health ◽  
Childhood Overweight And Obesity ◽  
Pediatric Overweight

Background: Parental health status had a potential influence on offspring health. This study aimed to investigate the separate associations between paternal and maternal cardiovascular health statuses and the prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity in the offspring.Methods: Data were from a cross-sectional study conducted in seven provinces or cities of China in 2013. A total of 29,317 children aged 6–18 years old and their parents, making up 9,585 father-offspring pairs and 19,732 mother-offspring pairs, were included in the final analysis. Information on parental cardiovascular health status factors (dietary behaviors, body mass index (BMI), smoking, physical activity, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus) was obtained from the structured self-administrated questionnaires. Based on the health status factors, we then generated an ideal cardiovascular health (iCVH) score. The overweight and obesity of children were defined using age- and sex-specific cutoffs based on the International Obesity Task Force criteria. A multilevel log-binomial regression model was used to assess the association between parental cardiovascular health status and prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity in the offspring.Results: The prevalence of pediatric overweight and obesity was 22.0% in the father-offspring subset and 23.8% in the mother-offspring subset, respectively. Fathers with ideal BMI, non-smoking, and absence of hypertension and diabetes, and mothers with ideal BMI, ideal physical activity, and absence of hypertension and diabetes were found to be associated with lower prevalence of overweight and obesity in the offspring. The prevalence of offspring overweight and obesity was significantly decreased with the parental iCVH scores increased. Each additional increase in paternal and maternal iCVH factor was associated with a 30% and 27% lower prevalence of overweight and obesity in the offspring. Compared with children whose parental iCVH scores ≤ 3, offspring whose fathers or mothers met all six iCVH factors had 67% [prevalence ratio (PR): 0.33, 95%CI: 0.25–0.42] and 58% (PR: 0.42, 95%CI: 0.29–0.62) lower prevalence of overweight and obesity, respectively.Conclusions: Parental adherence to iCVH status was associated with a lower prevalence of pediatric overweight and obesity in offspring. Our findings support the intervention strategy that parents should involve in the obesity intervention program for children.

scholarly journals Three principles for co-designing sustainability intervention strategies: Experiences from Southern Transylvania

AMBIO ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (9) ◽  
pp. 1451-1465 ◽  
Author(s):  
David P. M. Lam ◽  
Andra I. Horcea-Milcu ◽  
Joern Fischer ◽  
Daniela Peukert ◽  
Daniel J. Lang
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Real World ◽  
Intervention Strategy ◽  
Intervention Strategies ◽  
Leverage Points ◽  
Future State ◽  
Local Initiatives ◽  
Research Frameworks ◽  
Future 2

AbstractTransformational research frameworks provide understanding and guidance for fostering change towards sustainability. They comprise stages of system understanding, visioning and co-designing intervention strategies to foster change. Guidance and empirical examples for how to facilitate the process of co-designing intervention strategies in real-world contexts remain scarce, especially with regard to integrating local initiatives. We suggest three principles to facilitate the process of co-designing intervention strategies that integrate local initiatives: (1) Explore existing and envisioned initiatives fostering change towards the desired future; (2) Frame the intervention strategy to bridge the gap between the present state and desired future state(s), building on, strengthening and complementing existing initiatives; (3) Identify drivers, barriers and potential leverage points for how to accelerate progress towards sustainability. We illustrate our approach via a case study on sustainable development in Southern Transylvania. We conclude that our principles were useful in the case study, especially with regards to integrating initiatives, and could also be applied in other real-world contexts.

scholarly journals Effects of Fresh Watermelon Consumption on the Acute Satiety Response and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Overweight and Obese Adults

Nutrients ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 595 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiffany Lum ◽  
Megan Connolly ◽  
Amanda Marx ◽  
Joshua Beidler ◽  
Shirin Hooshmand ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Body Mass Index ◽  
Body Weight ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Metabolic Diseases ◽  
Insulin Response ◽  
Postprandial Glucose ◽  
Overweight And Obesity ◽  
Daily Consumption ◽  
Obese Adults

Although some studies have demonstrated the beneficial effects of watermelon supplementation on metabolic diseases, no study has explored the potential mechanism by which watermelon consumption improves body weight management. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of fresh watermelon consumption on satiety, postprandial glucose and insulin response, and adiposity and body weight change after 4 weeks of intervention in overweight and obese adults. In a crossover design, 33 overweight or obese subjects consumed watermelon (2 cups) or isocaloric low-fat cookies daily for 4 weeks. Relative to cookies, watermelon elicited more (p < 0.05) robust satiety responses (lower hunger, prospective food consumption and desire to eat and greater fullness). Watermelon consumption significantly decreased body weight, body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure and waist-to-hip ratio (p ≤ 0.05). Cookie consumption significantly increased blood pressure and body fat (p < 0.05). Oxidative stress was lower at four week of watermelon intervention compared to cookie intervention (p = 0.034). Total antioxidant capacity increased with watermelon consumption (p = 0.003) in blood. This study shows that reductions in body weight, body mass index (BMI), and blood pressure can be achieved through daily consumption of watermelon, which also improves some factors associated with overweight and obesity (clinicaltrials.gov, NCT03380221).

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