No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Differences in the prevalence of obesity are generally associated with disparities in the food environment which partially determine diet quality. In this research, I examine the relationship between the local food environment and the consumption of fruit and vegetables among individuals living in the Mississippi Delta region using survey and store availability data for individuals living in seven counties with the highest obesity rates in the state. An ordered probit model with an endogenous covariate is used to assess the marginal effect of food environment variables on the frequency of fruit or vegetable consumption. I find that longer distance traveled to the nearest full-service grocery store is associated with lower frequency of vegetable consumption, while access to public transportation is generally associated with a higher frequency of consumption. Insights from this study could prove helpful for health officials and policymakers tasked with designing and implementing localized interventions that improve the food environment and increase healthy food access.

A healthy diet is related to a low risk of chronic diseases. A large body of research is devoted to improving social welfare by promoting healthy eating. This dissertation addresses the relation of food and health by analyzing the money and time inputs in food, the food poverty measurement, and a corresponding health outcome. The second chapter extends the current food poverty measure in headcount and proposes a set of Foster, Greer, and Thorbecke (FGT) indices, which is commonly used in development literature, in food poverty to allow for a more comprehensive understanding in food poverty evaluation. The counter-factual analysis on removing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) component from the food expenditure shows that the original metrics underestimate the reduction to food expenditure poverty associated with ARRA, whereas the FGT indices indicate a slightly larger impact of ARRA in alleviating food poverty. The third chapter uses the same FGT indices in food poverty measurement but focuses on the sensitivity of these measurements to a different spatial and temporary food price. We use linear regression to estimate the local level of food poverty thresholds. The results show the spatial and temporal-specific thresholds are higher than the national threshold. The West region shows the most severe poverty situation, indicating the importance of considering spatial and temporal variations in measuring food expenditure poverty. The decompositions of food expenditures show that both the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and money spent on protein play an essential role in reducing food expenditure poverty. The fourth chapter combines the two datasets used in the previous two chapters to investigate the connection between the resources (money and time) devoted to food and a corresponding health outcome (Healthy Eating Index, HEI). Two-Sample-2-Stage-Least-Square (TS2SLS) model is used to account for the two different datasets in predicting the time spent on food-related activities. After obtaining the time input, a Three-Stage-Least-Square (3SLS) model shows the time input improves the HEI for Non-SNAP households, who are more constrained by time. The decomposition of the impact of education on the HEI shows the indirect impact account for 22% of the total impact. This analysis breaks down the impact of the characteristics on HEI through different channels, thus offers more comprehensive policy recommendations. / Doctor of Philosophy / A healthy diet is related to a low risk of chronic diseases. A large body of research is devoted to improving social welfare by promoting healthy eating. This dissertation is a series of studies on food and health regarding the money and time input on food, the food poverty measurement, and the corresponding health outcome. The second chapter extends the current food poverty measure in headcount and proposes a set of distributional metrics: depth and severity, which measures how far away households are away from the targeted threshold and how severe the food poverty is respectively. These distributional metrics allow for a more comprehensive understanding of food poverty evaluation. We also analyzed the change of the metrics when removing part of the food expenditure funding source. The analysis shows the original metrics tend to underestimate the reduction to food expenditure poverty and indicates a slightly larger impact of removed funding source in alleviating food poverty. The third chapter uses the same distributional food poverty metrics, but focuses on the sensitivity of these measurements to different spatial and temporal food prices. We use linear regression in estimating the local food poverty thresholds. The results show the spatial and temporal-specific thresholds are higher than the national threshold. The West region shows the most severe poverty situation, indicating the importance of considering spatial and temporal variations in measuring food expenditure poverty. The forth chapter combines the two datasets used in the previous two chapters to investigate the connection between the resources (money and time) spent on food and a corresponding health outcome. A special econometrics model is used to predict the time spent on food-related activities with two datasets. After obtaining the time input, a system of equations model shows the time input improves the healthy eating for households who are more constrained by time. The decomposition of the impact of education on healthy eating shows the indirect impact account for 22% of the total impact. This analysis breaks down the impact of the characteristics on HEI through different channels, thus offers more comprehensive policy recommendations.

Food and beverage marketing influences the preferences and diet quality of adolescents. In 2009, about one third (23.8 million US dollars) of the 77 million US dollars spent on celebrity marketing targeted to American adolescents promoted sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes. Research is limited on how celebrity endorsement influences adolescents' SSB choices and intake. This M.S. thesis describes a study with three research objectives conducted among 28 adolescents in Virginia to explore their beverage intake and views about celebrity endorsement of beverage products. Participants completed four activities including: BEVQ-15 to determine the type and amount of beverages consumed; a familiarity survey with 48 celebrities and their endorsements for six beverage product categories; Q methodology study that used 48 celebrity images depicting beverage brand and product endorsements where participants sorted the images on a normal distribution (+4 to -4) based on perceived celebrity credibility (i.e., expertise, attractiveness and trust); and a post Q sort questionnaire. The BEVQ-15 revealed that 96.3% of participants did not adhere to healthy beverage guidelines. A majority of participants recognized between 51% and 75% of the celebrities, but only 4.9% accurately identified celebrities and their associated beverage endorsement category. The Q methodology study used factor analysis to identify three unique viewpoints: (1) entertainment image emulators; (2) inspirational celebrities for perceived healthier beverages; and (3) multi-cultural celebrity appreciators. Study results may inform future policies and actions to ensure that celebrity endorsement encourages adolescents to buy and consume healthy beverages that align with guidelines. / Master of Science / Food and beverage marketing influences the preferences and diet quality of adolescents. In 2009, about one third (23.8 million US dollars) of the 77 million US dollars spent on celebrity marketing targeted to American adolescents promoted sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes. Research is limited on how celebrity endorsement influences adolescents’ SSB choices and intake. This M.S. thesis describes a study with three research objectives conducted among 28 adolescents in Virginia to explore their beverage intake and views about celebrity endorsement of beverage products. Participants completed four activities including: BEVQ-15 to determine the type and amount of beverages consumed; a familiarity survey with 48 celebrities and their endorsements for six beverage product categories; Q methodology study that used 48 celebrity images depicting beverage brand and product endorsements where participants sorted the images on a normal distribution (+4 to -4) based on perceived celebrity credibility (i.e., expertise, attractiveness and trust); and a post Q sort questionnaire. The BEVQ-15 revealed that 96.3% of participants did not adhere to healthy beverage guidelines. A majority of participants recognized between 51% and 75% of the celebrities, but only 4.9% accurately identified celebrities and their associated beverage endorsement category. The Q methodology study used factor analysis to identify three unique viewpoints: (1) entertainment image emulators; (2) inspirational celebrities for perceived healthier beverages; and (3) multi-cultural celebrity appreciators. Study results may inform future policies and actions to ensure that celebrity endorsement encourages adolescents to buy and consume healthy beverages that align with guidelines.

Yes / Being obese or gaining excessive weight during pregnancy can increase health risks for mother and baby. Adopting a healthy diet and increasing physical activity reduces these risks and has long-term health benefits for women. Despite this, women do not always maintain a healthy lifestyle during pregnancy. Aim To explore the factors that encouraged and prevented a diverse group of women to maintain a healthy lifestyle during pregnancy. Methods A total of 12 women participated in semi-structured qualitative interviews, underpinned by the theory of planned behaviour. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim then subject to deductive thematic analysis. Findings Four themes emerged: women's knowledge of a healthy lifestyle, sociocultural influences, physical health and health professional support. These influenced women's intentions and actual behaviours during pregnancy. Conclusions Enhanced health professional advice may motivate women to adopt a healthy lifestyle during pregnancy. This could be through new means such as health technology.

(in English): The aim of this dissertation is to characterize linguistic devices of contemporary French in the technical field of maintaining a healthy diet based on an analysis of texts from this communicative field. The work is divided into two parts. The first part focuses on defining the field of nutrition and theoretical foundations needed for textual analysis. Technical discourse is characterized in terms of its composition and linguistic devices such as morphosyntactic means and technical vocabulary. The second part defines the types of texts by the addressee, which classifies professional theoretical texts, practical scientific texts, educational texts and didactic texts. Each text is analyzed in terms of the pragmatic plane, discursive plane, notice plane, and then by morfosyntactic and lexical devices. Before the analysis itself, the methodology is defined and sets the different planes of analysis.

Morbidity due to noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) has become a worldwide epidemic. As a result, the United Nations (2015) Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDGs) included goal (3.4) that aims to reduce the premature mortality from NCDs by one third. All countries, regardless of income, are required to develop strategies and achieve a reduction in the burden of NCDs. This study, conducted in the Sultanate of Oman, aimed to explore individuals' knowledge, perceptions, actions and intentions to modify their lifestyle to reduce their risk of stroke. The Health Belief Model (HBM) was used as the underpinning theoretical framework to provide a broader conceptual understanding of the Omani sociocultural and structural influences on individuals' lifestyles. A convergent mixed methods design within a realist social constructionism methodology was used. Both quantitative (344 questionnaires) and qualitative (10 interviews) data were integrated using a narrative weaving approach. The study results confirm that both agency and structure influenced the adoption of healthy behaviours in Oman. The study indicates that the study participants are likely to engage in health-related behaviours when they perceived the benefit of such a course of actions in term of it reducing their risk of stroke. The study found that in the Omani setting, individual factors such as fear, family experience and physical sickness, the psychological status of chronic conditions and a cost-benefit analysis of the behaviour influence the individuals' decisions to practise a healthy lifestyle. The major finding in the study showed that perceptions of risk vary among individuals who share the same culture and religion, particularly individual perception of religious belief was found to influence their susceptibility to stroke risk. In addition, the study identified some sociocultural and structural factors that influenced the individuals' decisions to engage in a healthy lifestyle. This study presents an extended HBM to incorporate the role of individual religious beliefs as an individual factor. The study suggests that health improvement plans are needed in Oman to develop both individual- and community- level interventions to achieve the target of SDGs for NCDs.

Medical and economic costs for obesity are estimated at $147 billion per year, yet less than 1/3 of overweight individuals successfully maintain weight loss. The literature is replete with descriptions of the problem and research on treatments, yet demonstrations of effective loss and maintenance are lacking. Missing is an understanding of the experiences of individuals who successfully maintained healthy weight loss, which could provide insights regarding effective psycho-social interventions. The purpose of this qualitative narrative study was to explore key events and experiences in the lives of former weight cyclers. The primary phenomena of interest included weight cycling and sustained weight loss. Self-determination theory (SDT) and social cognitive theory (SCT) provided the theoretical frameworks to explore concepts like autonomy, mastery, and vicarious learning, which are known to be associated with recovery from other addictions (e.g., smoking cessation, weight loss). Using the tradition of narrative analysis, the stories of 6 formerly obese weight cyclers revealed 5 major themes: structure, strategies, relationship/support, autonomy, and identity as a fat person. Findings support SDT and SCT as meaningful frameworks for understanding how severely obese individuals can attain successful weight maintenance. Findings from this study revealed elements not fully addressed by these theories, such as resilience, the diverse orientations to the problem, and overarching themes common to all participants. Findings can be used to place greater emphasis on psychological components such as autonomy, mastery, and relatedness, which are necessary for successful remission. Findings may contribute to reducing direct and related costs of obesity and improving quality of life for individuals and their families.