Search Results (31)

Background/Objectives: Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often exhibit low dietary diversity due to Food Selectivity (FS), leading to various forms of malnutrition, such as obesity and/or micronutrient deficiencies. The main objective of the AUT-MENU project is to improve meal acceptance among individuals with ASD. A secondary goal is to evaluate the effectiveness of a nutrition education course for parents of enrolled participants to reduce FS. Methods: The study is a bicentric intervention conducted in three care centers (Northern area, Pavia and Milan) and one secondary school (Southern area, Rome), involving individuals with ASD aged 3 to 35 years. The study consists of an observational phase (T0) and an intervention phase (T1). At T0, biographical data, clinical characteristics, and dietary patterns of participants are collected. Based on T0 findings and existing nutritional recommendations for ASD individuals, targeted menus are developed and tested. At T1, the same assessment tools used at T0 will be applied to evaluate intervention effects. Additionally, a nutrition education course for caregivers will be implemented between T0 and T1, with a pre- and post-course knowledge questionnaire to assess its effectiveness. Results: This paper reports the results from the care centers in the Northern Area. Conclusions: Menu adaptations, developed according to individual preferences and nutritional guidelines, did not significantly modify food consumption but were well tolerated, allowing for an improvement in the nutritional profile of meals without reducing acceptability. These findings support the feasibility of implementing tailored menu strategies in collective catering for individuals with ASD. Full article

Background: Nutrition problems among primary school children increase the risk of illness, reduce school attendance, and impair academic performance. The Indonesian national school feeding program (ProGAS—Program Gizi Anak Sekolah) was developed to address these issues through the provision of healthy breakfast, nutrition education, and character building. Methods: This study employed a mixed-methods design involving 454 primary school students aged 8–14 years from 24 schools across four provinces. Data collection included structured questionnaires, 24 h dietary recalls, and anthropometric measurements. In-depth interviews with school principals, teachers, cooking teams, parents, students, nutritionists, and district education office staff were conducted to capture experiences and opinions on the ProGAS implementation. Results: ProGAS significantly improved students’ dietary diversity, meal frequency, handwashing with soap, and nutrition knowledge, alongside a positive trend in school attendance. Improvements included higher mean dietary diversity, increased proportion of students eating ≥3 meals/day, greater correct responses on balanced nutrition, and higher rates of handwashing before meals (all p < 0.01). Children also developed positive behaviors such as praying before meals, queuing, and taking responsibility for cleaning dishes. However, students’ breakfast habits did not significantly improve, the delivery of nutrition education was suboptimal, and no significant changes were observed in nutrient intakes or nutritional status based on BMI-for-age. While the energy and protein contributions of the ProGAS menu met the recommended 25–30% of daily requirements for breakfast, its micronutrient contributions remained below the recommended levels. Key management gaps include the delivery of nutrition education to students and the monitoring of implementation by local and national authorities. Conclusions: ProGAS demonstrated positive impacts on some dietary and hygiene practices as well as learning environment. To achieve greater improvements in breakfast habits, nutrient intake and nutritional status, it is recommended to strengthen the school feeding menus not only for dietary diversity but also for nutrient density, enhance capacity building for teachers, deliver regular and engaging nutrition education, and reinforce program monitoring. Full article

This paper introduces an innovative methodology for optimizing recommendation strategies across different populations within the food industry. While previous approaches to recommending courses have overlooked cultural and age-based preferences, our work demonstrates how understanding these differences can significantly enhance the attractiveness for consumers and create new opportunities for marketing. By simulating diverse populations using a fuzzy logic approach, based on individual characteristics such as age, gender, geographical area, and city size, the study evaluates how recommendation algorithms perform within a generated menu database. Results show that algorithms like State–Action–Reward–State–Action (SARSA), multi-armed bandit (MAB), and Deep-Q Network (DQN) exhibit varying levels of efficiency depending on the population. Notably, the DQN improves accumulated reward over a random recommender by 71.60% for “Foodies”, 65.02% for “Veggies”, 63.46% for “Spanish”, and 8.89% for “Seniors”, while MAB achieves similar performance with fewer resources. Statistically significant differences (p < 0.005) are found in the performance of the DQN between populations, with large effect sizes according to Cliff’s delta. These findings highlight recommender systems as an opportunity to navigate market demand, optimize supply chains, and reduce food waste. A better understanding of public preferences enables more effective alignment of supply and demand across the entire food supply chain. As a conclusion, while the DQN effectively captures target group preferences, the optimum recommendation strategy should be chosen by balancing algorithmic performance, computational efficiency, and the specific requirements of the food sector. Full article

Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping mobile food-ordering apps, yet its impact on customer experience (CX) has not been fully mapped. Following systematic review guidelines (PRISMA 2020), a search of SCOPUS, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar in March 2025 identified 55 studies published between 2022 and 2025. Since 2022, research has expanded from intention-based studies to include real-time app interactions and live app experiments. This shift has helped to identify five key CX dimensions: (1) instrumental usability: how quickly and smoothly users can order; (2) personalization value: AI-generated menus and meal suggestions; (3) affective engagement: emotional appeal of the app interface; (4) data trust and procedural fairness: users’ confidence in fair pricing and responsible data handling; (5) social co-experience: sharing orders and interacting through live reviews. Studies have shown that personalized recommendations and chatbots enhance relevance and enjoyment, while unclear surge pricing, repetitive menus, and algorithmic anxiety reduce trust and satisfaction. Given the limitations of this study, including its reliance on English-only sources, a cross-sectional design, and limited cultural representation, future research should investigate long-term usage patterns across diverse markets. This approach would help uncover nutritional biases, cultural variations, and sustained effects on customer experience. Full article

Food loss and waste are critical challenges in Taiwan’s agri-food supply chain, deteriorating security and resource efficiency. By employing the best–worst method (BWM), a multi-criteria decision-making model was developed in this study to evaluate the severity of losses and wastes. Combining literature review results with expert survey analysis results, key loss points, and mitigation strategies were identified to enhance sustainability and efficiency in Taiwan’s agricultural food system. Among the seven stages of the agricultural food supply chain, supermarket waste (16.95%) was identified as the severest, followed by government policies (16.63%), restaurant waste (15.35%), processing loss (14.71%), production site loss (13.64%), household waste (11.93%), and logistics/storage/distribution loss (10.79%). In the subcategories of each supply chain stage, the eight severe issues were identified as “Inadequate planning and control of overall production and marketing policies” under government policies, “Adverse climate conditions” and “Imbalance in production and marketing” under production site loss, “Inaccurate market demand forecasting” and “Poor inventory management at supermarkets” under supermarket waste, and “Improper storage management of ingredients leading to spoilage” as well as “Inability to accurately forecast demand due to menu diversity” under restaurant waste. The least severe issues included “Poor production techniques” under production site loss. Other minor issues included “Inefficient use of ingredients due to poor cooking skills”, “Festive culture and traditional customs”, and “Suboptimal food labeling design”, all of which contributed to household waste. Based on these findings, we proposed recommendations to mitigate food loss and waste in Taiwan’s agricultural food supply chain from practical, policy, and academic perspectives. The results of this study serve as a reference for relevant organizations and stakeholders. Full article

The objective of this study is to verify the usability of gesture interactions such as tilting or shaking, rather than conventional touch gestures, on mobile devices. To this end, a prototype was developed that manipulates the text size in a mobile text messaging application through tilt gestures. In the text input interface, three types of tilt gesture interaction methods (‘Shaking’, ‘Leaning’, and ‘Acceleration’) were implemented to select the text size level among five levels (extra-small, small, normal, large, and extra-large). Along with the gesture-based interaction methods, the conventional button method was also evaluated. A total of 24 participants were asked to prepare text messages of specified font sizes using randomly assigned interaction methods to select the font size. Task completion time, accuracy (setting errors and input errors), workload, and subjective preferences were collected and analyzed. As a result, the ‘Shaking’ method was generally similar to the conventional button method and superior to the other two ‘Leaning’ and ‘Acceleration’ methods. This may be because ‘Leaning’ and ‘Acceleration’ are continuous operations, while ‘Shaking’ is an individual operation for each menu (font size level). According to subjective comments, tilting gestures on mobile devices can not only be useful if users take the time to learn them, but also provide ways to convey intentions with simple text. Although tilting gestures were not found to significantly improve text editing performance compared to conventional screen touch methods, the use of motion gestures beyond touch on mobile devices can be considered for interface manipulations such as app navigation, gaming, or multimedia controls across diverse applications. Full article

Insect proteins are suitable for human consumption and hold potential in the foodservice sector, where there is growing pressure to reduce traditional meat consumption, and this alternative could be explored through innovative gastronomy landscapes, such as by incorporating insect-based proteins into gourmet dishes. This study uniquely explored how young adults—specifically GenZ and Millennials (aged 18–30)—perceived and accepted insect-based products and whether their dietary habits aligned with sustainable principles. A mixed-methods approach was applied, including a cross-sectional study related to attributes of participants on insect products and sensory evaluation of insect and commercial products, to investigate awareness, acceptance, and sensory experiences. Key barriers included food neophobia and cultural resistance. The findings revealed a significant gap between awareness and behaviour: while 86% recognised insects as nutritious and 58% associated them with sustainability, only 18.6% have tried consuming them. This is a notable larger disparity compared to the adoption of other sustainable alternatives, such as vegetable meat based on peas, which have seen broader acceptance in recent years. Additionally, although 93.2% found products more appealing when their natural appearance is hidden, traditional insect-free products were still rated higher in taste, sweetness, and texture. Some insect-based products such as protein bars showed potential for greater acceptance than others. Bridging the awareness-behaviour gap requires targeted education, sensory improvement, and strategic marketing to emphasise nutritional and environmental benefits. Chefs could play a vital role by designing innovative menus that incorporate these products in familiar forms. This is demonstrated by successful examples where chefs have normalised unconventional ingredients, such as seaweed, overcoming cultural barriers and enhancing acceptance. Future studies should focus on expanding the diversity of participants, mapping gender differences, considering and improving the sensory properties of more products, and confirming the bioavailability of insects to promote wider acceptance of insect consumption. Full article

Background/Objectives: Numerous national programs have been launched to enhance public health in Saudi Arabia, primarily aiming to promote healthy lifestyles through regular physical activity and a balanced diet. However, there is a lack of studies assessing the effectiveness and utilization of these initiatives. This study aimed to evaluate the perceived effectiveness and utilization of health promotion initiatives and identify the associated factors. Methods: A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted among adults (aged > 18 years) in Saudi Arabia using an online questionnaire through a convenient sampling approach. The questionnaire comprised three sections: sociodemographic data, medical history, and health promotion initiatives. An adjusted analysis was conducted using ordinary least squares (OLS) regression. Results: A total of 999 participants completed the survey. Walking paths emerged as the most perceived effective initiative, while labeled caloric menus were the most utilized. Perceptions of walking paths varied by age and health status; individuals aged 25–44 and lower-income groups viewed them less favorably. In contrast, those in good health found them more effective. Perceptions of calorie-related information on menus differed according to health status. Saudis perceived taxes on soft drinks less favorably than non-Saudis. Regionally, the western region favored fresh juice options compared to the East. The utilization of walking paths was higher among married individuals and those without chronic conditions, while the consumption of soft drinks was significant among younger and extremely obese individuals. Conclusions: The study revealed diverse perceptions and utilization patterns regarding health promotion initiatives among various demographic and socioeconomic groups, emphasizing the need for tailored strategies to enhance their effectiveness across populations. Full article

Introducing grain legumes, i.e., pulses, into any food pattern effectively increases dietary fiber and other bioactive food components of public health concern; however, the impact depends on the amount consumed. Given the convergence of preclinical and clinical data indicating that intake of at least 300 g (1.5 cup) of cooked pulse per day has clinically observable benefit, the feasibility for a typical consumer was demonstrated by creation of a fourteen-day menu plan that met this criterion. This menu plan, named Bean Cuisine, was comprised of a combination of five cooked pulses: dry beans, chickpeas, cowpeas, dry peas, and lentils. As reported herein, the impact of each menu day of the fourteen-day plan on gut microbial composition and predicted function was evaluated in female C57BL/6J mice, a strain commonly used in studies of metabolic dysfunction-associated chronic diseases. We report that pulse-related effects were observed across a wide variety of food item combinations. In comparison to a pulse-free human cuisine, all pulse menu days enriched for a gut ecosystem were associated with changes in predicted metabolic pathways involving amino acids (lysine, tryptophan, cysteine), short-chain fatty acids (butyrate, acetate), and vitamins (B₁, B₆, B₉, B₁₂, K₂) albeit via different combinations of microbiota, according to the PICRUSt2 estimates. The predicted metabolic functions correlating with the various pulses in the menus, indicate the value of a food pattern comprised of all pulse types consumed on a regular basis. This type of multi-pulse food pattern has the potential to enhance the taxonomic and functional diversity of the gut microbiome as a means of strengthening the resilience of the gut ecosystem to the challenges associated with the daily activities of living. Full article

Black neighborhoods in the U.S., historically subjected to redlining, face inequitable access to resources necessary for health, including healthy food options. This study aims to identify the enablers and barriers to promoting equitable healthy food access in small, independently owned carryout restaurants in under-resourced neighborhoods to address health disparities. Thirteen in-depth interviews were conducted with restaurant owners in purposively sampled neighborhoods within Healthy Food Priority Areas (HFPAs) from March to August 2023. The qualitative data were analyzed using inductive coding and thematic analysis with Taguette software (Version 1.4.1). Four key thematic domains emerged: interpersonal, sociocultural, business, and policy drivers. Owners expressed mixed perspectives on customers’ preferences for healthy food, with some perceiving a community desire for healthier options, while others did not. Owners’ care for the community and their multicultural backgrounds were identified as potential enablers for tailoring culturally diverse menus to meet the dietary needs and preferences of their clientele. Conversely, profit motives and cost-related considerations were identified as barriers to purchasing and promoting healthy food. Additionally, owners voiced concerns about taxation, policy and regulation, information access challenges, and investment disparities affecting small business operations in HFPAs. Small restaurant businesses in under-resourced neighborhoods face both opportunities and challenges in enhancing community health and well-being. Interventions and policies should be culturally sensitive, provide funding, and offer clearer guidance to help these businesses overcome barriers and access resources needed for an equitable, healthy food environment. Full article

Community engagement in climate action and adaptation planning is an essential prerequisite for overcoming existing and projected environmental injustices associated with the negative impacts of climate change. The diversity and inclusion of stakeholders are crucial for addressing equity in both the development and implementation of local climate plans. Our study attempts to evaluate and compare consideration of equity in climate action and climate adaptation plans of Michigan cities and its association with the diversity of stakeholders involved in the planning process. Data analysis is based on the content of eight municipal climate action and/or climate adaptation plans, related documents, and interviews with city planners along with community activists. Data derived from the climate action and adaptation plans were also compared to the strategies outlined in the Tribal Climate Adaptation Menu, which integrates climate science and indigenous knowledge. The study concludes that municipalities that engage more diverse groups of stakeholders appear to be more attentive to social equity and more likely to offer specific climate action and adaptation measures focusing on vulnerable groups. The integration of indigenous knowledge could provide valuable insights for municipalities through collaboration with tribal communities and climate adaptation experts. Full article

This work aimed to explore the food quality attributes of in-flight meals and to examine the antecedents of positive emotion and continuous usage of these meals. As a subdimension, this study uses multiple attributes: menu diversity, familiarity, temperature, nutrition, and presentation. Another purpose of this work is to examine the moderating effect of menu diversity on the relationship between nutrition and continuance usage. A survey via clickworker was used to collect the data for this work. There were 317 valid observations for statistical inference. This study used a structural equation model to test the hypotheses, and the Hayes process model macro 1 was adopted to test the moderating effect. The results showed that all independent variables other than familiarity significantly accounted for positive emotion. Moreover, all of these attributes had a positive impact on continuous usage. This work unveiled a significant moderating effect of menu diversity on the relationship between nutrition and continuance usage. This research elucidates the literature by clarifying the influential attributes of emotion and continuous usage intention in the domain of in-flight meal products and discussing practical implications. Full article

Lahpet-Ye-Hsain, commonly referred to as “tea shops” or teahouses, are versatile establishments that serve as both dining places and social gathering spots. These micro-institutions are fundamental to Myanmar society at the local level, playing a significant role in daily social interactions, economic activities, and political discourse. Operated as private businesses and informal meeting spots, tea shops are primarily staffed by women who serve tea and food to a predominantly male clientele at various times of the day. The size of tea shops can vary, from small snack shops to larger establishments offering a wide range of menu options. In a typical small village tea shop, customers sit on footstools around small square tables, creating a space for sharing tea and food, and exchanging ideas, opinions, problems, hopes, and aspirations. Tea shops attract a diverse range of individuals, as they are known for their inclusive nature that welcomes people from all backgrounds and walks of life, although women are often on the periphery. Historically dominated by men, we suggest that empowering women’s involvement in tea shops could positively impact their agency in other aspects of life, especially during political change. These micro-institutions serve as the initial connection point for residents in the village or neighborhood, traditionally catering to men but now increasingly broadened to women, newcomers, and young individuals exploring new opportunities. Full article

Wild vegetables (WVs) have been an essential source of human nutrition since ancient times. Foraging is a millennia-old practice that has gained more attention recently and is becoming fashionable, especially in restaurants in urban areas, as they attract customers who see WVs as an innovative sensory element and specialty food. Some cooks have used very few WVs for decades, but most chefs have only recently introduced them in their modern restaurants. Our study aims to have a deeper understanding of the diversity of WVs used by restaurants in the Lombardy region in Northern Italy and to know how they are introduced onto different menus, as well as the source of knowledge and the innovation paths related to the use/introduction of WVs in the selected sample of restaurants. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 restaurant managers, chefs, and their professional foragers in the Lombardy region in Northern Italy in 2022; fifty-four wild plant taxa were recorded to be used in the considered restaurants. The collected data were analyzed to understand the current situation and the potential developments of this practice by exploring the reasons/motivations that underpin the inclusion of WVs in restaurants. A broad spectrum of restaurants was considered to evaluate the potential differences in handling and sourcing these ingredients. The results demonstrated that this trend has mainly been driven by attempts to revitalize traditional cuisines and to generate a positive impact on health, but the actual culinary preparations based upon WVs are often original and remarkably diverge from the Italian food ethnobotanical heritage. Moreover, concerns related to the environmental sustainability of these practices have been addressed. Full article

This cross-sectional study aims to explore the dietary patterns and associated factors of adolescents, which are often overlooked in nutrition data systems. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 304 participants aged 10 to 19 in rural northern Thailand, utilizing both open recall and list-based 24 h recall techniques, with the data recorded online. Dietary diversity (DD) was assessed using ten food groups as per the Food and Agricultural Organization guidelines. We employed binary logistic regression and multivariable logistic regression analyses. Most participants consumed items from the grains, white roots, and tubers food group, while the nuts, seeds, and pulses food group was the least consumed. The mean number of food groups consumed was 5.23 ± 0.12, with no significant differences across gender and age groups, and participants reporting no influence of mass media on food choices were more likely to have inadequate DD (AOR = 2.94; 95% CI 1.38–6.28). Conversely, those not influenced by social media when choosing food (AOR = 0.45; 95% CI 0.21–0.96), who felt relaxed during meals (AOR = 0.33; 95% CI 0.19–0.59), and with no role in family meal decisions (AOR = 0.55; 95% CI 0.31–0.95) were less likely to have inadequate dietary diversity. We suggest that assisting adolescents with mealtime management and involving them in selecting healthy menus could improve their dietary variety. Moreover, future research should further investigate these mechanisms to inform strategies for improving DD in this age group. Full article