Related papers: How Close and How Much? Linking Health Outcomes to…
We present an approach to estimate distance-dependent heterogeneous associations between point-referenced exposures to built environment characteristics and health outcomes. By estimating associations that depend non-linearly on distance…
More than one-third of the adult population in the United States is obese. Obesity has been linked to factors such as, genetics, diet, physical activity and the environment. However, evidence indicating associations between the built…
Previous likelihood-based linear modeling of nutritional data has been limited by the availability of software that allows flexible error structures in the data. We demonstrate the use of a Bayesian modeling approach to the analysis of such…
Obesity affects a rising percentage of the children and adolescent population, contributing to decreased quality of life and increased risk for comorbidities. Although the major causes of obesity are known, the obesogenic behaviors manifest…
We propose the spatial-temporal aggregated predictor (STAP) modeling framework to address measurement and estimation issues that arise when assessing the relationship between built environment features (BEF) and health outcomes. Many BEFs…
Childhood obesity remains a major public health challenge in the United States, strongly influenced by a combination of individual-level, household-level, and environmental-level risk factors. Traditional epidemiological studies typically…
Developmental epidemiology commonly focuses on assessing the association between multiple early life exposures and childhood health. Statistical analyses of data from such studies focus on inferring the contributions of individual…
Experimental animal evidence and a growing body of observational studies suggest that prenatal exposure to phthalates may be a risk factor for childhood obesity. Using data from the Mount Sinai Children's Environmental Health Study…
Non-communicable diseases like diabetes, obesity and certain forms of cancer have been increasing in many countries at alarming levels. A difficulty in the conception of policies to reverse these trends is the identification of the drivers…
Obesity is a risk factor for many health issues, including heart disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis, and certain cancers. One of the primary behavioral causes, dietary intake, has proven particularly challenging to measure and track. Current…
Diet plays a crucial role in health, and understanding the causal effects of dietary patterns is essential for informing public health policy and personalized nutrition strategies. However, causal inference in nutritional epidemiology faces…
Measuring the impact of an environmental point source exposure on the risk of disease, like cancer or childhood asthma, is well-developed. Modeling how an environmental health hazard that is extensive in space, like a wastewater canal,…
From the past few years, due to advancements in technologies, the sedentary living style in urban areas is at its peak. This results in individuals getting a victim of obesity at an early age. There are various health impacts of obesity…
We present a large-scale analysis of Instagram pictures taken at 164,753 restaurants by millions of users. Motivated by the obesity epidemic in the United States, our aim is three-fold: (i) to assess the relationship between fast food and…
This study develops a Bayesian semi-parametric model to examine the longitudinal growth and appetite phenotypes in children from the GUSTO cohort, with a focus on understanding the relationship between eating behaviours and growth outcomes…
Studies of the relationships between environmental exposures and adverse health outcomes often rely on a two-stage statistical modeling approach, where exposure is modeled/predicted in the first stage and used as input to a separately fit…
This study introduces the Spatial Health and Population Estimator (SHAPE), a spatial microsimulation framework that applies hierarchical iterative proportional fitting (IPF) to estimate two health risk behaviors and eleven health outcomes…
In this paper we investigate the spatio-temporal dynamics of obesity rates across Italian regions from 2010 to 2022, aiming to identify spatial and temporal trends and assess potential heterogeneities. We implement a Bayesian hierarchical…
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent environmental pollutants of major public health concern due to their resistance to degradation, widespread presence, and potential health risks. Analyzing PFAS in groundwater is…
Understanding the effects of built environment on physical activity is important for promoting healthy lifestyles in cities. Yet, very few studies have used objective continuous location data and measures of physical activity while…