Publications by authors named "Fang F Zhang"

Purpose: The aim of this study was to develop and refine Cardiovascular Health Equity through Food (CHEF), an intervention to address food insecurity (FI) in early childhood cancer survivors (CCS).

Methods: Single-center mixed-methods pilot study of a novel "food is medicine" intervention evaluating acceptability, satisfaction, and opportunities for refinement. CHEF participants were provided: (1) meal-kit delivery for 3 household meals/week for 3 months and (2) application assistance for federal nutrition benefits.

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Article Synopsis
  • Ultra-processed foods make up more than half of U.S. adults' daily calorie intake, but their impact on mortality has not been thoroughly researched.
  • The study analyzed data from over 38,000 U.S. adults, linking dietary habits from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) with mortality records to explore this association.
  • Results showed that an increase in ultra-processed food consumption by 10% is linked to a 9% higher risk of dying from various causes, even after considering overall diet quality.
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The social dimension of sustainable diets, which addresses the impacts of food value chains on people, animals and communities, is under-represented in the food systems field. We present a definition of the social dimension of sustainable diets, clarify its boundaries and propose corresponding outcomes. Three case studies highlight the connectivity of social outcomes with the health, environment and economic dimensions of sustainable diets.

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Background: Malnutrition screening is not widely practiced in outpatient cancer centers. This review aims to determine the validity of malnutrition screening tools and provide recommendations for clinical use.

Methods: Studies identified by a systematic review assessed the general validity of screening tools in adult oncology outpatients from five databases through 2022.

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Background: Suboptimal diets may promote undesired weight gain in youths, with high ultraprocessed food (UPF) intake becoming a significant concern in the United States.

Objectives: We evaluated the association between UPF intake and body mass index [BMI (in kg/m)] change in large United States youth cohorts.

Methods: Participants included children and adolescents (7-17 y) from the Growing Up Today Study (GUTS1 and GUTS2) who completed baseline and ≥1 follow-up diet and anthropometrics assessment (GUTS1 1996-2001: N = 15,797; GUTS2 2004-2011: N = 9720).

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Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess participants' perceptions and experiences while participating in a Food is Medicine medically tailored meal plus intensive nutrition counseling intervention to create a theoretical explanation about how the intervention worked.

Methods: This interpretive qualitative study included the use of semi-structured interviews with active participants in a randomized controlled trial aimed at understanding how a medically tailored meal plus nutrition counseling intervention worked for vulnerable individuals with lung cancer treated at four cancer centers across the USA. During the 8-month long study, participants in the intervention arm were asked to be interviewed, which were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using conventional content analysis with principles of grounded theory.

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Several organizations have published nutrition guidelines for cancer survivors during and after treatment. This review compared nutrition guidelines for cancer survivors published in the United States for the topics that are covered in the guidelines and evaluated the evidence that these guidelines are based upon. A team of researchers, patient stakeholders, and healthcare providers collectively identified 5 nutrition guidelines for cancer survivors in the United States: the 2022 American Cancer Society Nutrition and Physical Activity Guidelines for Cancer Survivors, the 2018 American Institute for Cancer Research Cancer Nutrition Guide, the 2022 National Cancer Institute Physician Data Query and Eating Hints, the 2024 National Comprehensive Cancer Network Guidelines for Cancer Survivors, and the 2020 American Society for Clinical Oncology Guidelines.

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Background: Children from families who immigrated to the United States may consume a lower-quality diet compared with their US-born peers. However, specific features of their dietary patterns, which could be a focus for improving diet quality, are not well-studied.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine dietary patterns that distinguish interpersonal variability in dietary intake and explore the association of dietary patterns with nutrient intake and weight status.

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Introduction: Produce prescription programs are rapidly expanding as a type of Food is Medicine intervention with prospects for mitigating food insecurity and reducing diet-related health disparities. Gaining insight into participant perspectives on program logistics and perceived impacts is crucial to program success and improvements.

Methods: Between May and June 2021, we conducted individual and small group interviews with 23 caregivers with children aged 1-5 years who participated in a produce prescription program from 2020 to 2021 in Texas, U.

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Background: Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are emerging as a risk factor for colorectal cancer (CRC), yet how post-diagnostic UPF intake may impact CRC prognosis remains unexplored.

Methods: Data collected from food frequency questionnaires were used to estimate intakes of total UPFs and UPF subgroups (serving/d) at least 6 months but less than 4 years post-diagnosis among 2498 patients diagnosed with stages I-III CRC within the Nurses' Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study during 1980-2016. Hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of all-cause, CRC- and cardiovascular disease (CVD)-specific mortality in association with UPF consumption were estimated using an inverse probability weighted multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression model, adjusted for confounders.

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Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess participants' perceptions and experiences while participating in a Food is Medicine medically tailored meal plus nutrition counseling intervention to create a theoretical explanation about the intervention worked.

Methods: This interpretive qualitative study included the use of semi-structured interviews with active intervention participants. Purposeful sampling included vulnerable (uninsured, rural zip code residency, racial/ethnic minority, 65 years old, and/or low-income) individuals with lung cancer treated at four cancer centers across the United States.

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Background: Produce prescription programs represent a promising intervention strategy in the healthcare setting to address disparities in diet quality and diet-related chronic disease. The objective of this study was to understand adoption and implementation factors related to these programs that are common across contexts and those that are context-specific.

Methods: In this qualitative case comparison study, we conducted qualitative interviews with eight clinic staff from five primary care "safety net" clinics, identified by a partnering non-profit organization that operated the programs, in April-July 2021.

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Article Synopsis
  • The goal of the gathering was to bring together experts from various fields to create a research plan focused on the relationship between processed food consumption and the risk of obesity and cardiometabolic diseases in the U.S. !*
  • Attendees participated in discussions about the effects of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) on health, exploring foundational knowledge, potential mechanisms, and gaps in current research during breakout sessions. !*
  • Six key research questions were developed to guide future studies, addressing topics like improving UPF classification, assessing intake, and understanding environmental influences on UPF consumption. !*
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Background: The effect of ultra-processed foods (UPF) on NAFLD remains unclear. Related evidence for adult NAFLD is limited and no study has yet evaluated UPF's impact on NAFLD in adolescence.

Methods: We used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2017-2018) with 806 adolescents and 2734 adults.

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Background: Produce prescriptions may improve cardiometabolic health by increasing fruit and vegetable (F&V) consumption and food insecurity yet impacts on clinical outcomes and health status have not been evaluated in large, multisite evaluations.

Methods: This multisite, pre- and post-evaluation used individual-level data from 22 produce prescription locations in 12 US states from 2014 to 2020. No programs were previously evaluated.

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Background Produce prescription programs, providing free or discounted produce and nutrition education to patients with diet-related conditions within health care systems, have been shown to improve dietary quality and cardiometabolic risk factors. The potential impact of implementing produce prescription programs for patients with diabetes on long-term health gains, costs, and cost-effectiveness in the United States has not been established. Methods and Results We used a validated state-transition microsimulation model (Diabetes, Obesity, Cardiovascular Disease Microsimulation model), populated with national data of eligible individuals from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2013 to 2018, further incorporating estimated intervention effects and diet-disease effects from meta-analyses, and policy- and health-related costs from published literature.

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Article Synopsis
  • High intake of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) in infants and toddlers is linked to an increased risk of chronic diseases, highlighting the need to assess their impact on early diet quality in the U.S.
  • A study analyzed the food consumption of infants and toddlers aged 6-23 months using data from a national health survey, finding that about 45% of their energy intake from complementary foods came from UPFs, while 42% came from unprocessed or minimally processed foods (U/MPFs).
  • The results showed that while U/MPFs supported better nutrient intake overall, UPFs were significant sources of iron and zinc, but also contributed high levels of added sugars and sodium, indicating the need for further research on
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The Indonesian government faces a dilemma of promoting fish consumption for its health benefits and to ease food insecurity, while at the same time seeking effective approaches to reduce the high levels of marine pollution. However, the factors associated with fish consumption in the face of persistent high levels of marine pollution are not well elucidated in the literature. This was an explorative study to investigate the sociodemographic factors related to fish consumption and to understand the perspectives of expert informants on marine pollution and its impact on fish quality and availability in Indonesia.

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Introduction: Research on the impacts of dietary patterns on human and planetary health is a rapidly growing field. A wide range of metrics, datasets, and analytical techniques has been used to explore the role of dietary choices/constraints in driving greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, environmental degradation, health and disease outcomes, and the affordability of food baskets. Many argue that each domain is important, but few have tackled all simultaneously in analyzing diet-outcome relationships.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to evaluate how menu calorie labeling could help reduce cancer cases related to obesity in the US population.
  • Using a cost-effectiveness model, it analyzed the effects of this policy on consumer habits and food industry changes among 235 million adults aged 20 and older.
  • Results showed that just by changing consumer behavior, the policy could prevent thousands of cancer cases and deaths, save billions in medical costs, and yield significant overall cost savings.
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Background: The impact of diet on breast cancer survival remains inconclusive. We assessed associations of all-cause mortality with adherence to the four diet quality indices: Healthy Eating Index-2015 (HEI-2015), Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI), Alternative Mediterranean Diet (aMED), and Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH).

Methods: Dietary intake data were evaluated for 6,157 North American women enrolled in the Breast Cancer Family Registry who had been diagnosed with invasive breast cancer from 1993 to 2011 and were followed through 2018.

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Objective: Produce prescriptions have shown promise in improving diabetes care, although most studies have used small samples or lacked controls. Our objective was to evaluate the impacts of a produce prescription program on glycemic control for patients with diabetes.

Research Design And Methods: Participants included a nonrandom enrollment of 252 patients with diabetes who received a produce prescription and 534 similar control participants from two clinics in Hartford, Connecticut.

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Background: Beyond alcohol and coffee, the relationship between other dietary factors, including specific vegetables and fruits, and liver outcomes remains poorly understood.

Objective: To evaluate the associations between fruit and vegetable intake with the risk of liver cancer and chronic liver disease (CLD) mortality.

Methods: This study was based on the National Institutes of Health-American Association of Retired Persons Diet and Health Study, including 485,403 participants aged 50-71 y from 1995 to 1996.

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Background: Adult survivors of childhood cancer have poor adherence to nutrition guidelines and inadequate intake of dietary vitamins D and E, potassium, fiber, magnesium, and calcium. The contribution of vitamin and mineral supplement use to total nutrient intake in this population is unclear.

Methods: We examined the prevalence and dose of nutrient intake among 2570 adult survivors of childhood cancer participating in the St.

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