Nutritional Epidemiology

Willett's Nutritional Epidemiology has become the foundation of this field. This new edition updates existing chapters and adds new ones addressing the assessment of physical activity, the role of genetics in nutritional epidemiology, and the interface of this field with policy.

Nutritional epidemiology examines dietary or nutritional factors in relation to the occurrence of disease in various populations. It is a fact that substantial progress has been made in recent years in nutritional epidemiology. Compared to the practice during the 1990s, and with the improvements in data analytics, several new approaches are gaining ground. Results from a variety of large-scale studies in the field of nutrition epidemiology have substantially contributed toward the evidence used in guiding dietary recommendations for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases, metabolic disorders, some types of cancer, and other morbidities. In this Special Issue, we would like to bring readers closer to the state-of-the-art in the field by gathering papers covering different aspects of nutrition epidemiology from population-based observational studies. Topics of the submitted articles may, but not necessarily, include eating habits of various populations, especially of those not well-studied, such as in Africa, Oceania, South Americas, immigrants, minorities, as well as a variety of associations between nutrients/foods/food patterns and chronic diseases, like cardiovascular, diabetes, obesity, cancer, etc., and gene–nutrient and epigenome–nutrient interactions related to human health at all ages.

In examining the relationship between nutritional exposure and disease aetiology, the importance of a carefully considered experimental design cannot be overstated. A sound experimental design involves the formulation of a clear research hypothesis and the identification of appropriate measures of exposure and outcome. It is essential that these variables can be measured with a minimum of error, whilst taking into account the effects of chance and bias, and being aware of the risk of confounding variables. The first edition of Design Concepts in Nutritional Epidemiology presented a throrough guide to research methods in nutritional epidemiology. Since publication of the 1st edition, we now have a much better understanding of the characteristics of nutritional exposure that need to be measured in order to answer questions about diet-disease relationships. The 2nd edition has been extensively revised to include the most up-to-date methods of researching this relationship. Included are new chapters on qualitative and sociological measures, anthropometric measures, gene-nutrient interactions, and cross-sectional studies. Design Concepts in Nutritional Epidemiology will be an essential text for nutritionists and epidemiologists, helping them in their quest to improve the quality of information upon which important public health decisions are made.

Overview of Nutritional Epidemiology; Foods and Nutrients; Nature of Variation in Diet; Short Term Dietary Recall and Recording Methods; Food Frequency Methods; Reproducibility and Validity of Food Questionnaries; Recall of Remote Diet; Surrogate Sources of Dietary Information; Anthropometric Measures and Body Composition; Implications of Total Energy Intake for Epidemiologic Analyses; Correction for the Effects of Measurement Error; Vitamin A and Lung Cancer; Dietary Fat and Breast Cancer; Diet and Coronary Heart Disease; Future Research Directions.

This graduate-level community nutrition textbook presents a conceptual framework for understanding the course of health and disease and matching community nutrition or applied nutrition epidemiology to the model.

Public Health Nutrition is a comprehensive, practice-based textbook for graduate and upper undergraduate students and community nutrition and public health professionals. It provides readers with the principal understanding of how improving access to healthy foods at individual, local, regional and global levels as well as improving food security and sustainability can improve community health and combat noncommunicable diseases, infectious diseases, hunger and malnutrition, obesity, social injustice, and debilitating food environments. Across diverse communities, this book not only directs readers’ attention towards key public health nutrition-related challenges that affect rural and urban populations across the globe, it also adds critical thinking exercises, cases, and engaging discussion topics to advance application of evidence-based practice in the real world. Using an interprofessional approach and supported with evidence-based research in public health, nutritional science, and behavioral economics, this textbook covers how to plan health promotion programs and interventions in diverse communities, how to analyze and influence food policy, sustainability, and security initiatives, and how to address cultural competency, nutritional monitoring, professional development, and many other practice-based skills out in the field.. All chapters are complete with learning objectives, detailed case studies, discussion questions, learning activities for beyond the classroom, and a review of core topics covered. Essential for public health students studying nutrition, public policy, social work, and other health science-related areas, the book presents a strategic context to real-world initiatives while employing an interprofessional outlook to tackle public health nutrition issues. Key Features Addresses key public health nutrition-related challenges in working with rural, urban, global, and culturally and geographically diverse communities to improve outcomes Utilizes interprofessional and evidence-based approaches to food and water systems, food security, and food sovereignty Includes coverage of important trends, such as telehealth, mHealth, collaborative grantsmanship, and innovative communication strategies Highlights the aims of Healthy People 2030, Feed the Future, and Sustainability Development Goals Fosters skills and builds competencies related to community health needs assessment, problem-solving and critical thinking, systems thinking, evidence-based public health practice, and leadership Features case studies, suggested learning activities, reflection questions, an extensive glossary, and more in all chapters Includes a full range of instructor ancillaries including an Instructor's Manual, PowerPoints, Test Bank, Image Bank, and Syllabus Purchase includes access to the ebook for use on most mobile devices or computers

The thoroughly revised and updated Third Edition of the acclaimed Modern Epidemiology reflects both the conceptual development of this evolving science and the increasingly focal role that epidemiology plays in dealing with public health and medical problems. Coauthored by three leading epidemiologists, with sixteen additional contributors, this Third Edition is the most comprehensive and cohesive text on the principles and methods of epidemiologic research. The book covers a broad range of concepts and methods, such as basic measures of disease frequency and associations, study design, field methods, threats to validity, and assessing precision. It also covers advanced topics in data analysis such as Bayesian analysis, bias analysis, and hierarchical regression. Chapters examine specific areas of research such as disease surveillance, ecologic studies, social epidemiology, infectious disease epidemiology, genetic and molecular epidemiology, nutritional epidemiology, environmental epidemiology, reproductive epidemiology, and clinical epidemiology.

The world continues to lose more than a million lives each year to the HIV epidemic, and nearly two million individuals were infected with HIV in 2017 alone. The new Sustainable Development Goals, adopted by countries of the United Nations in September 2015, include a commitment to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030. Considerable emphasis on prevention of new infections and treatment of those living with HIV will be needed to make this goal achievable. With nearly 37 million people now living with HIV, it is a communicable disease that behaves like a noncommunicable disease. Nutritional management is integral to comprehensive HIV care and treatment. Improved nutritional status and weight gain can increase recovery and strength of individuals living with HIV/AIDS, improve dietary diversity and caloric intake, and improve quality of life. This book highlights evidence-based research linking nutrition and HIV and identifies research gaps to inform the development of guidelines and policies for the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. A comprehensive approach that includes nutritional interventions is likely to maximize the benefit of antiretroviral therapy in preventing HIV disease progression and other adverse outcomes in HIV-infected men and women. Modification of nutritional status has been shown to enhance the quality of life of those suffering HIV/AIDS, both physically in terms of improved body mass index and immunological markers, and psychologically, by improving symptoms of depression. While the primary focus for those infected should remain on antiretroviral treatment and increasing its availability and coverage, improvement of nutritional status plays a complementary role in the management of HIV infection.