Ruopeng An

• PhD
• Constance and Martin Silver Endowed Professor in Data Science and Prevention at New York University

Background/Objectives: Loneliness among older adults is a prevalent issue, significantly impacting their quality of life and increasing the risk of physical and mental health complications. The application of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in behavioral interventions offers a promising avenue to overcome challenges in designing and imple...

The release of popular generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT have prompted universities to introduce new policies or update existing ones. Currently, most institutions adapt their policies reactively as challenges arise, often without adopting a systematic framework, with minimal guidance and limited knowledge of the approaches...

A balanced diet is crucial for preventing diseases and managing existing health conditions. ChatGPT as garnered attention from researchers, including nutrition scientists and dietitians, as an innovative tool for personalized meal planning and dietary recommendations. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to review scientific evidence on ChatGP...

Conducting thematic analysis in qualitative research can be laborious and time-consuming. We propose and evaluate the feasibility of using Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) models to assist public health researchers in extracting themes from interview transcripts. Carefully engineered prompts were used to sequentially extract and synthesize...

Using simulated patients to mimic 9 established noncommunicable and infectious diseases, we assessed ChatGPT’s performance in treatment recommendations for common diseases in low- and middle-income countries. ChatGPT had a high level of accuracy in both correct diagnoses (20/27, 74%) and medication prescriptions (22/27, 82%) but a concerning level...

BACKGROUND The COVID-19 pandemic has been accompanied by an “infodemic,” where the rapid spread of misinformation has exacerbated public health challenges. Traditional fact-checking methods, though effective, are time-consuming and resource-intensive, limiting their ability to combat misinformation at scale. Large language models (LLMs) like GPT-4...

Background: The escalating global prevalence of obesity has necessitated the exploration of novel diagnostic approaches. Recent scientific inquiries have indicated potential alterations in voice characteristics associated with obesity, suggesting the feasibility of using voice as a noninvasive biomarker for obesity detection.

This systematic review aims to synthesize scientific evidence on the effects of oral nutritional supplementation (ONS) on health-related outcomes and nutritional biomarkers among children and adolescents with undernutrition. The review protocol was reported following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols (P...

The participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) consume greater amounts of sugar and sweetened beverages (SSBs) compared to non-eligible individuals, which could result in potential negative health outcomes. This can be attributed to the lack of restrictions on SSB purchases with SNAP benefits. In view of the increasing cal...

Nuts are nutrient-dense foods and can be incorporated into a healthy diet. Artificial intelligence-powered diet-tracking apps may promote nut consumption by providing real-time, accurate nutrition information but depend on data and model availability. Our team developed a dataset comprising 1380 photographs, each in RGB color format and with a reso...

BACKGROUND Mobile phone apps powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) have emerged as powerful tools to address mental health challenges faced by children. This study aimed to comprehensively review AI-driven apps for child mental health, assessing their availability, quality, readability, characteristics, and functions. OBJECTIVE This study aimed...

Introduction Evidence-based policies are a powerful tool for impacting health and addressing obesity. Effectively communicating evidence to policymakers is critical to ensure evidence is incorporated into policies. While all public health is local, limited knowledge exists regarding effective approaches for improving local policymakers' uptake of e...

Background The field of implementation science was developed to address the significant time delay between establishing an evidence-based practice and its widespread use. Although implementation science has contributed much toward bridging this gap, the evidence-to-practice chasm remains a challenge. There are some key aspects of implementation sci...

UNSTRUCTURED Using simulated patients to mimic 9 established noncommunicable and infectious diseases, we assessed ChatGPT’s performance in treatment recommendations for common diseases in low- and middle-income countries. ChatGPT had a high level of accuracy in both correct diagnoses (20/27, 74%) and medication prescriptions (22/27, 82%) but a conc...

Non-alcoholic beers have gained popularity in recent years offering an alternative to traditional alcoholic beverages. We investigated U.S. adults’ attitudes towards non-alcoholic beer purchases and consumption by children and adolescents using a survey administered on Amazon Mechanical Turk with 141 participants, yielding 124 valid responses. Most...

Background: Although COVID-19 has disproportionately affected socio-economically vulnerable populations, research on its impact on socio-economic disparities in unhealthy food reliance remains scarce. Methods: This study uses mobile phone data to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on socio-economic disparities in reliance on convenience stores and f...

BACKGROUND The escalating global prevalence of obesity has necessitated the exploration of novel diagnostic approaches. Recent scientific inquiries have indicated potential alterations in voice characteristics associated with obesity, suggesting the feasibility of using voice as a non-invasive biomarker for obesity detection. OBJECTIVE This study...

Background The escalating global prevalence of obesity has necessitated the exploration of novel diagnostic approaches. Recent scientific inquiries have indicated potential alterations in voice characteristics associated with obesity, suggesting the feasibility of using voice as a noninvasive biomarker for obesity detection. Objective This study a...

BACKGROUND Measuring food and nutrient intakes has historically been challenging, often relying on subjective recall or labor-intensive diaries. With the advent of artificial intelligence (AI), there exists potential for more precise and efficient dietary assessment. OBJECTIVE This scoping review aimed to synthesize existing literature on the effi...

Background Accurate measurement of food and nutrient intake is crucial for nutrition research, dietary surveillance, and disease management, but traditional methods such as 24-hour dietary recalls, food diaries, and food frequency questionnaires are often prone to recall error and social desirability bias, limiting their reliability. With the advan...

Public health nutrition occupies a paramount position in the overarching domains of health promotion and disease prevention, setting itself apart from nutritional investigations concentrated at the individual level [...]

Menu labeling regulations in the United States mandate chain restaurants to display calorie information for standard menu items, intending to facilitate healthy dietary choices and address obesity concerns. For this study, we utilized machine learning techniques to conduct a novel sentiment analysis of public opinions regarding menu labeling regula...

Background As a primary source of added sugars in the US diet, sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption is presumed to contribute to obesity prevalence and poor oral health. We systematically synthesized and quantified evidence from US-based natural experiments concerning the impact of SSB taxes on beverage prices, sales, purchases, and consumpti...

Purpose This scoping review aimed to offer researchers and practitioners an understanding of artificial intelligence (AI) applications in physical activity (PA) interventions; introduce them to prevalent machine learning (ML), deep learning (DL), and reinforcement learning (RL) algorithms; and encourage the adoption of AI methodologies. Methods A...

Background: Given China's fast-growing aging population, cognitive decline is a leading public health concern. Eggs are an affordable food rich in several shortfall nutrients that may benefit cognitive health. Aim: This study assessed the longitudinal relationship between whole egg consumption and cognition among older adults in China. Methods:...

Purpose Media exaggerations of health research may confuse readers’ understanding, erode public trust in science and medicine, and cause disease mismanagement. This study built artificial intelligence (AI) models to automatically identify and correct news headlines exaggerating obesity-related research findings. Design/methodology/approach We sear...

The Special Issue entitled “The Impact of Policy and Food Environment on Food Purchase and Dietary Behavior” comprises 13 articles that collectively provide valuable insights into the complex interplay between policy, food environment, and individual food purchase and consumption [...]

BACKGROUND Pokémon GO, an augmented reality game with widespread popularity, can potentially influence players’ physical activity (PA) levels and psychosocial well-being. OBJECTIVE This review aims to systematically examine the scientific evidence regarding the impact of Pokémon GO on PA and psychosocial well-being in children and adolescents. ME...

Background Pokémon GO, an augmented reality game with widespread popularity, can potentially influence players’ physical activity (PA) levels and psychosocial well-being. Objective This review aims to systematically examine the scientific evidence regarding the impact of Pokémon GO on PA and psychosocial well-being in children and adolescents. Me...

Monitoring population obesity risk primarily depends on self-reported anthropometric data prone to recall error and bias. This study developed machine learning (ML) models to correct self-reported height and weight and estimate obesity prevalence in US adults. Individual-level data from 50 274 adults were retrieved from the National Health and Nutr...

Choline is an essential nutrient affects brain development in early life. However, evidence is lacking regarding its potential neuroprotective effects in later life from community-based cohorts. This study assessed the relationship between choline intake and cognitive functioning in a sample of older adults 60 years + from the National Health and N...

Context: As a primary source of added sugars, sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption may contribute to the obesity epidemic. A soda tax is an excise tax charged on selling SSBs to reduce consumption. Currently, 8 cities/counties in the United States have imposed soda taxes. Objective: This study assessed people's sentiments toward soda taxes...

Background: Chatbots are computer programs, often built upon large artificial intelligence models, that employ dialogue systems to enable online, natural language conversations with users via text, speech, or both. Body image, broadly defined as a combination of thoughts and feelings about one’s physical appearance, has been implicated in many risk...

Approximately one third of American youth consume candy on a given day. Consuming excess candy contributes to added sugar intake and may lead to tooth decay and other health concerns. Diet-tracking apps may inform and help regulate candy consumption but depend on the availability of annotated candy image data and predictive models. A recent review...

Background Obesity is a leading cause of preventable death worldwide. Artificial intelligence (AI), characterized by machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL), has become an indispensable tool in obesity research. Objective This scoping review aimed to provide researchers and practitioners with an overview of the AI applications to obesity rese...

Background: Clonidine is a frequently prescribed long-term antihypertensive medication in hemodialysis (HD) patients in the USA, but its safety and efficacy has not been clearly established in the HD population. Objective: To evaluate, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis on the safety and efficacy of clonidine in HD patients. Met...

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is the third leading cause of death among infants younger than one year of age. Effective SIDS prediction models have yet to be developed. Hence, we developed a risk score for SIDS, testing contemporary factors including infant exposure to passive smoke, circumcision, and sleep position along with known risk fact...

Background: Nuts are nutrient-dense foods that contribute to healthier eating. Food image datasets enable artificial intelligence (AI) powered diet-tracking apps to help people monitor daily eating patterns. Aim: This study aimed to create an image dataset of commonly consumed nut types and use it to build an AI computer vision model to automate...

Schools play a critical role in students' diabetes management and ensure their safety and well-being. We conducted key informant interviews with 11 school nurses in Missouri to assess determinants for diabetes care implementation. Five themes and 29 subthemes were identified concerning school nurses, schools, external stakeholders, government, and...

Objectives: This study assessed gene-environment interactions linking maternal parenting styles to childhood obesity and alcohol and tobacco use. Methods: Data was retrieved from the first wave of the German Twin Family Panel. Participants comprised 3 birth cohorts aged 5, 11, and 17 years, with approximately 500 pairs of same-sex monozygotic tw...

Introduction: This study systematically reviewed scientific evidence concerning the influence of green space on obesity in China. Methods: Keyword and reference search was conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, EBSCO, and CNKI. Predetermined selection criteria included-study designs: experimental and observational studies; subjects: people...

Purpose Parenting style has been associated with children’s weight-related outcomes and health behaviors, but this relationship may be confounded by genetic influences. Using a twin design to better control for genetics and shared home environments, this study aimed to estimate the longitudinal parental effects on obesity, smoking, and drinking in...

Social media holds the potential to engage adolescents and young adults and to facilitate interventions improving Human Papillomavirus Vaccine (HPVV). This article systematically reviewed the literature on Cochrane Library, PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, Scopus and CINAHL. Interventions delivered or facilitated by social media with outcomes of HPV...

Due to the role that sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) play in the obesity epidemic, SSB taxes have been enacted in the United States in the California cities of Albany, Berkeley, Oakland, and San Francisco, as well as in Boulder, Philadelphia, and Seattle. We pooled five years of Nielsen Consumer Panel and Retail Scanner Data (2014–18) to examine p...

Green space may play an essential role in residents’ physical activity (PA), but evidence remains scattered in China. This study systematically reviewed scientific evidence regarding the influence of green space on PA among residents in China. Keyword and reference searches were conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, EBSCO, and CNKI from the...

Background: Eggs are an affordable food providing many shortfall nutrients with the potential to improve cognitive health. We assessed the relationship between whole egg consumption and cognitive functioning among a US nationally representative sample of older adults. Methods: Individual-level data (2816 adults, aged ≥ 60 years) were obtained fr...

Objective: In this study, we examined the influence of multi-level barriers on school diabetes care quality. Methods: We administered an online survey to nurses in Missouri K-12 schools (N = 245). We assessed 57 potential barriers in 5 domains (at individual, school, community, social/ cultural, and political/economic levels). We developed 38 crite...

Diet quality scores are designed mainly based on Western-style dietary patterns. They were demonstrated to be good indicators of obesity in developed but not developing countries. Several diet quality scores were developed based on the Chinese dietary guidelines, yet no systematic review exists regarding how they were related to obesity. We searche...

Background Accurate, readily accessible, and easy-to-understand nutrition labeling is a promising policy strategy to address poor diet quality and prevent obesity. Objective This study projected the influence of nationwide implementation of sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) warning labels and restaurant menu labeling regulations. Design A stochastic...

Diabetes management at school demands close collaboration of multiple stakeholders, including students with diabetes and parents, school nurses, teachers/staff, and local health care providers. This scoping review identified and synthesized evidence concerning factors that contributed to the quality and effectiveness of diabetes care implementation...

This study systematically reviewed scientific literature regarding the effects of the FIFA 11+ intervention on the change of direction (COD) performance in soccer and futsal players. We conducted a keyword search on June 30, 2020, in SPORTDiscus, PubMed, Web of Science, Academic Search Complete, Scopus, CINAHL, and Google Scholar. We performed a me...

Objectives: We assessed the relationship between physical activity (PA) and mental health among Chinese adolescents. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey in 4 Chinese cities – Beijing, Shanghai, Nanchang, and Urumchi. We randomly selected 25 schools from these cities in both urban and suburban areas. A total of 9269 adolescents completed...

Background Exposure to air pollution and physical inactivity are both significant risk factors for non-communicable diseases (NCDs). These risk factors are also linked so that the change in exposure in one will impact risks and benefits of the other. These links are well captured in the active transport (walking, cycling) health impact models, in w...

Objectives This study systematically reviewed evidence from interventions on the effect of front-of-package (FOP) nutrition labeling on food purchases. Study design The study design used in this study is a systematic review. Methods Keyword search was performed in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Cochrane Library. Results Fifteen studies (10...

Purpose of Review This study systematically identified and synthesized empirical data-driven modeling studies that projected the future influence of global warming on people’s physical activity patterns. Recent Findings A total of ten studies met the eligibility criteria and were included in the review. Global warming, in general, was predicted to...

Context As a primary source of added sugars, sugar-sweetened beverage consumption contributes to obesity. This study systematically synthesizes the scientific evidence regarding the impact of sugar-sweetened beverage warning labels on consumer behaviors and intentions. Evidence acquisition A keyword/reference search was performed in 2019 in Cochra...

Objective: Outdoor physical activity (PA) brings important health benefits, but exposure to polluted air increases health risks. This study aimed to quantify the tradeoff of PA under fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution by estimating the optimal PA duration under various pollution levels. Methods: A risk-benefit analysis was performed t...

Purpose To examine the determinants and impacts of implementing the mitigation interventions to combat the COVID-19 disease in the United States during the first 5 weeks of the pandemic. Method A content analysis identified nine types of mitigation interventions and the timing at which states enacted these strategies. A proportional hazard model,...

Objective: This study systematically synthesized and quantified the relationship linking state laws governing school physical education (PE) to PE attendance and physical activity (PA) in class and throughout the day and week among students in the USA. Methods: A keyword search was performed in PubMed, Web of Science, Cumulative Index to Nursing...

This study systematically reviewed and quantified evidence regarding the effectiveness of eccentric overload training (EOT) on change-of-direction speed (CODS) performance. A keyword search was performed in 30 April 2020 in eight electronic bibliographic databases: SPORTDiscus, PubMed, Web of Science, Academic Search Complete, Cochrane Library, Sco...

Background Pork consumption, in particular fresh/lean-pork consumption, provides protein and other essential micronutrients that older adults need daily and may hold the potential to prevent functional limitations resulting from sub-optimal nutrition. Aim Assess fresh/lean-pork intake in relation to functional limitations among older adults in the...

Objectives: In this study, we systematically synthesized scientific evidence on pork consumption in relation to body weight and composition among adults. Methods: We performed a keyword search using Cochrane Library, PubMed, Web of Science, CINAHL, and Google Scholar. We conducted a meta-analysis to estimate the pooled effect size of pork consumpti...

Background To combat the Covid-19 pandemic in the United States, many states and Washington DC enacted Stay-at-Home order and nonpharmaceutical mitigation interventions. This study examined the determinants of the timing to implement an intervention. Through an impact analysis, the study explored the effects of the interventions and the potential r...

Objectives: This study examines the impact of a previously validated disability spectrum that accounts for compensatory strategies on depressive symptoms in older adults. Methods: This study was a secondary data analysis of 2011 through 2018 surveys from the National Health and Aging Trends Study (N=7,609). The disability spectrum was categorize...

Objective The COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. led to nationwide stay-at-home orders and school closures. Declines in energy expenditure resulting from canceled physical education classes and reduced physical activity (PA) may elevate childhood obesity risk. This study estimated the impact of COVID-19 on childhood obesity. Methods A microsimulation m...

Background Consumers’ access to cannabis has been considerably expanded in US states where recreational cannabis was legalized and commercialized. However, little is known about the important factors influencing consumers’ purchase decisions in cannabis retail dispensaries. This study examined cannabis users’ perceptions of the relative importance...

Objective: This study systematically reviewed the scientific literature on the relationship between grandparental child care and childhood obesity. Methods: Keyword/reference search was performed in CINAHL, PsycINFO, PubMed, and Web of Science. Meta-analysis was conducted to estimate the pooled effect of grandparental child care on children's weig...

Objectives: In this study, we explored the potential impact of disasters on individuals' fruit and vegetable consumption. Methods: Individual-level data (N = 351,229) from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) 2011 survey were merged with county-level disaster declaration data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) bas...

Context: Pokémon Go is a popular mobile augmented reality game that requires players to travel to different locations to capture virtual characters. This study systematically reviews and quantifies Pokémon Go in relation to physical activity engagement among players. Evidence acquisition: A keyword search was conducted in PubMed, Web of Science,...

Green space is considered a critical environmental factor for sleep quality and quantity. However, no systematic review exploring this relationship exists. The purpose of this systematic review was to 1) explore research related to green space and sleep, and 2) examine the impact of green space exposure on sleep quality and quantity. Papers from ei...

Beef is a key component in the American diet. This study assessed fresh and fresh lean beef intake in relation to functional limitations among U.S. older adults 65 years and older. Logistic regressions were performed on individual-level 24-hour dietary recall and health indicator data (N=6,135) retrieved from 2005–2016 National Health and Nutrition...

Purpose This study assessed the influence of state laws governing physical education (PE) on weekly PE class attendance among US high school students. Design Cross-sectional. Setting 2003 to 2017 US national Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). Participants A total of 533 468 high school students. Measures Data on state laws governing PE came fro...

Objectives: Hurricane Katrina was an intense tropical cyclone that made landfall in the United States (US) in August 2005, causing catastrophic damage in several states. This study examined the impact of Hurricane Katrina on mental health status among US adults. Methods: Multilevel regressions based on the difference-in-differences study design wer...

This study reviewed evidence linking economic globalization to the obesity epidemic. Keyword/reference search was performed in PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Scopus, EconLit, Google Scholar, and BMC Globalization and Health. A total of 16 studies were identified, in which six adopted a cross‐sectional study design, nine adopted a longitu...

Objective: In this study, we assessed the influence of pork consumption on nutrient intakes and diet quality among US adults. Methods: We used a nationally-representative sample (N=27,117) from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2005–2016 waves for analysis. First-difference estimator addressed confounding bias from time-...

Reports of college students experiencing food insecurity (FI), defined as inadequate access, availability, adequacy, and stability of food, have sparked national calls for alleviation and prevention policies. However, there are a wide variety of FI rates reported across studies and even among recent literature reviews. The current scoping review ai...

Life satisfaction is a key component of people’s subjective well-being. This study assessed the relationship between relative income and life satisfaction among Chinese adults, using data from a cross-sectional survey. Individual-level data (N = 1369) came from the 2016 China Genuine Progress indicator Survey (CGPiS) conducted in Beijing and Chengd...

Objectives: To systematically review and quantitatively synthesize the existing evidence of motor learning in persons with Multiple Sclerosis (PwMS). Data sources: PubMed, CINAHL, and Web of Science were searched using the terms: multiple sclerosis, task learning, motor learning, skill learning, performance learning. Study selection: Studies h...

One in four deaths in the US is caused by cardiovascular disease (CVD), and early detection may be a key aspect of prevention. We assessed the probability of a first hard atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) event within 10 years in US Non-Hispanic White and African American population aged 40–79 years. With data from 16 years of the Nati...

Objective This study systematically reviewed literature on the neighbourhood food environment in relation to diet and obesity among residents in China. Design A keyword search of peer-reviewed articles was performed in Cochrane Library, PubMed, and Web of Science. Eligibility criteria include study designs: longitudinal/cohort studies or cross-sec...

(1) Background: Undernutrition and micronutrient deficiency have been consistently linked to cognitive impairment among children and young adults. As a primary source of dietary animal protein, beef consumption holds the potential to improve diet quality and positively influence cognitive function. This study systematically reviewed evidence linkin...

Background: MicroRNAs have altered expression levels in various diseases and may play an important role in the diagnosis and prognosis of colorectal cancer (CRC). Methods: We systemically reviewed and quantitatively synthesized the scientific evidence pertaining to microRNA-20a (miR-20a) as a CRC biomarker. A keyword and reference search in PubMed...

Objective: To identify participant characteristics and study methodology that influenced the completion of a 15-month community-based longitudinal study evaluating the impact of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education and Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program. Design: Observational longitudinal 15-month study across 12 da...

Objectives: Parental incarceration might impact children's body weight through household financial strain, lack of caregiving, social stigma, and stress. In this study, we systematically reviewed scientific literature linking parental incarceration to body weight status of children and young adults. Methods: A literature search was conducted in Pub...

Objectives: In this study, we assessed fresh and fresh lean beef intake in relation to functional limitations among US adults 65 years and older. Methods: We conducted logistic regressions on individual-level 24-hour dietary recall and health indicator data (N = 6135) retrieved from 2005-2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Result...

Purpose: This study assessed the longitudinal relationship between trade openness and obesity rate across 175 countries during 1975-2016. Methods: Two-way (country and year) fixed-effects regressions were performed to examine the openness index (i.e., sum of export and import over gross domestic product) in relation to country obesity rate, usin...