Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to computer systems doing tasks that usually need human intelligence. AI is constantly changing and is revolutionizing the healthcare field, including nutrition. This review’s purpose is four-fold: (i) to investigate AI’s role in nutrition research; (ii) to identify areas in nutrition using AI; (iii) to understand AI’s future potential impact; (iv) to investigate possible concerns about AI’s use in nutrition research. Eight databases were searched: PubMed, Web of Science, EBSCO, Agricola, Scopus, IEEE Explore, Google Scholar and Cochrane. A total of 1737 articles were retrieved, of which 22 were included in the review. Article screening phases included duplicates elimination, title-abstract selection, full-text review, and quality assessment. The key findings indicated AI’s role in nutrition is at a developmental stage, focusing mainly on dietary assessment and less on malnutrition prediction, lifestyle interventions, and diet-related diseases comprehension. Clinical research is needed to determine AI’s intervention efficacy. The ethics of AI use, a main concern, remains unresolved and needs to be considered for collateral damage prevention to certain populations. The studies’ heterogeneity in this review limited the focus on specific nutritional areas. Future research should prioritize specialized reviews in nutrition and dieting for a deeper understanding of AI’s potential in human nutrition.

Purpose: Over the last few decades, consumers’ concerns for healthier lifestyles and the environment have become the driving forces for forming food-buying intentions. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of product attributes regarding nutrition and health benefits of products, the environmental impact of production and social responsibility of producers on consumers’ food and wine choices.Design/methodology/approach: The empirical analysis is based on an online survey conducted in the USA, the UK and Germany, and incorporates a discrete choice experiment with visual shelf simulations.Findings: Price and nutrition information are much more influential on consumers’ food choices than information about social responsibility of producers or the ecological impact of production. Product attributes emphasizing the ecological impact of production and social responsibility of food producers are specifically valued by consumers with high levels of environmental consciousness and by those concerned about goods production. Consumers who are health conscious regarding their lifestyle and diets derive high utility values from the nutritional information of the product.Practical implications: The study contributes to an understanding of how to promote healthier food and wine choices and social and environmental responsibility of food and wine producers in various markets.Originality/value: The study offers a comparison of product attributes concerning ecological, social, nutrition and health benefits of the product; as well the investigation of congruent interrelationships between the consumers’ values and related product attributes in three culturally distinct consumer groups.

Food insecurity has been undermining the health and well-being of a growing number of older adults in Sub-Saharan Africa. This review aimed to examine the prevalence of food insecurity and the related contributing factors of food insecurity among older adults in Sub-Saharan Africa. We used PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, and Web of Science Core Collection as our search engines and included 22 articles for data extraction. Prevalence of severe and moderate food insecurity in households with older adults ranged from 6.0 to 87.3% and from 8.3 to 48.5%, respectively. Various socio-economic (e.g., low education level, being widowed, low income, lower wealth position of households, living in a rental house, living in rural areas, lack of social grants or pensions), demographic (e.g., female, Black racial group, larger family size), and health and nutrition status-related (e.g., self-reported poor health status, having a functional and mobility-related disability, psychological disorders) factors influence food insecurity in older adults in Sub-Saharan Africa. The findings of this review can help stakeholders to prioritize the issue of food insecurity, design and implement policies and programs to improve food security among older adults in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Background: Childhood obesity has become a growing global epidemic. In South Africa, overweight and obesity during childhood and adolescence are rising. The objectives of this study were (i) to estimate the prevalence of overweight and obesity among selected students in Cofimvaba, a rural settlement in Eastern Cape province, South Africa, and (ii) to assess the accuracy of the mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) and ultrasound triceps skin-fold thickness (TSF) methods of predicting these health parameters Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 211 students (109 girls and 102 boys) selected randomly from five public schools in Cofimvaba and aged 6–19 years. The weight, height, MUAC and TSF were determined by standard techniques. Data obtained were subjected to descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Result: Overall 1.9% (1.8% girls and 2.0% boys) of the respondents were underweight, 14.8% (21.1% and 7.8% boys) were overweight and 2.8% (4.6% girls and 1.0% boys) were obese. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in girls than boys during adolescence but there was no gender difference in children (6–9 years). Most of the students (80.6%) had a healthy weight, with boys being significantly (p < 0.05) healthier than girls. The BMI showed significant strong correlations with MUAC (r = 0.926; p < 0.001) and TSF (r = 0.643; p < 0.001). ROC curve analysis gave an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.795 (95% CI, 0.761–0.889) and 0.835 (95% CI, 0.771–0.899) for MUAC and TSF respectively. Conclusion: The study found a high prevalence of overweight children in the sample and a low prevalence of stunting and underweight. The adolescent girls are at a higher risk of being overweight and obese than the boys. MUAC and TSF can adequately predict overweight and obesity among the selected students.

As a result of consumers’ increasing concerns with ethical, environmental, and health issues, sustainable consumption and production have become a popular topic of recent academic research and industry practices. The current study sought to provide in-depth insights into consumers’ views on sustainability by simultaneously examining their environmental and social awareness and behavior, health-conscious lifestyles, and diets; as well as the perceived importance of social and nutrition information on wine labels. Based on empirical data obtained through a web-based survey distributed to consumer panels in three markets – the US, the UK, and Germany – this research segmented wine consumers into four categories: Apathetic Consumers; Health-Conscious Diners; Holistic Perfectionists; and Ethical Advocates. The findings indicate that in general wine consumers are mindful about the environmental problems, social responsibility of companies, ethically produced and sustainably sourced products. The majority adhere to healthy lifestyles and watch their diets. Nevertheless, with the exception of only one cluster (Holistic Perfectionists), wine consumers do not actively seek social, environmental, or nutritional information on wine labels. This study shows that, at least currently, the preferences for the social factors are unlikely to outweigh dominating traditional wine purchase drivers, such as price, brand, country of origin, and grape variety. Industry implications for tailored marketing strategies are discussed.