NIHRDataInsights/HRCSData huggingface dataset:
Title: Are we sitting (too) comfortably?: Developing health-enhancing intervention strategies to reduce time spent sitting whilst working from home
Funder: Medical Research Council

Abstract: COVID-19 has changed the way we work, both during lockdown and beyond. For large sectors of the population, spending at least a portion of the working week in a home environment will become part of the 'new normal' working landscape. An adverse effect of working from home is an increase in sedentary behaviour, as employees spend more time sitting due to longer screen time, more on-line meetings, and no longer commuting or move around the workspace. Sedentary behaviour is a public health hazard with high volumes significantly increasing risk of all-cause and CVD mortality, incident cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, obesity and mental health. There is a dearth of research focused on sedentary behaviour whilst working from home, and we know very little about how best to intervene to reduce sedentary behaviour when working from home to mitigate against short and long-term health risks. The aim of this developmental research project is to identify intervention strategies to reduce and break up prolonged sedentary behaviour whilst working from home in women and men aged 18-40 in specific job roles. The objectives are: 1) To scope the existing evidence base to consider the transferability of effective sedentary behaviour interventions in the workplace to a working from home environment 2) To collect primary data to understand employers' and employees' views on sedentary behaviour and factors that will influence behaviour change 3) To collect primary data to assess employees' and employers' perceptions of how acceptable, feasible, and engaging initial interventions iterations are 4) To continually consult with workplace well-being stakeholders 5) To design and refine intervention strategies and articulate an initial programme theory describing how the intervention is expected to lead to its effects The outcomes of this research will contribute to the evidence base, and be of value to the employment sector as we adapt to new ways of working.


Research activity codes: 3.1 PRIMARY PREVENTION INTERVENTIONS TO MODIFY BEHAVIOURS OR PROMOTE WELL-BEING
Health categories: CANCER AND NEOPLASMS;CARDIOVASCULAR;METABOLIC AND ENDOCRINE;ORAL AND GASTROINTESTINAL;STROKE
Title: Does minimum unit pricing for alcohol have unintended consequences for diet quality and health? A natural experiment comparing Scotland and England.
Funder: Chief Scientist Office, Scotland

Abstract: Minimum unit pricing (MUP) for alcohol was introduced in Scotland in May 2018. It is intended to increase the cost of cheap off sales alcohol and reduce the amount of alcohol consumed. However, it is likely that households will spend more on alcohol and this will reduce the amount of money they have to spend on other things. This project will measure whether household food spending is reduced, the effect that this has on diet quality and the consequences for health. We will do this by comparing the change in household spending in Scotland before and after the introduction of MUP with the change in household spending in the North of England, where MUP does not apply. The comparison with England is used to control for any effects, such as price rises, which are common to both areas. We will also look at the change in volume and type of food purchased to see if this becomes less healthy as households might buy less fruit and vegetables, for example. A less healthy diet increases the risk of health problems such as those associated with foods high in fat, sugar and salt or with low consumption of fibre and oily fish.


Research activity codes: 8.3 POLICY, ETHICS AND RESEARCH GOVERNANCE
Health categories: CANCER AND NEOPLASMS;CARDIOVASCULAR;METABOLIC AND ENDOCRINE;ORAL AND GASTROINTESTINAL;STROKE
Title: Partnership project with disadvantaged communities to design and test a novel evidence-informed and community-based intervention to address and promote healthy weight and wellbeing
Funder: Chief Scientist Office, Scotland

Abstract: People living in disadvantaged areas seldom take part in weight loss services. Low income, unemployment, working anti-social hours and stressors like food insecurity make looking after health and wellbeing challenging. Addressing the link between obesity and inequalities in people’s physical and mental health is a key priority for citizens, Government and for post-Covid recovery. In partnership with two disadvantaged communities in Forth Valley, we will co-design a new community-led approach to incentivise, support, and sustain healthy weight and wellbeing. We will review the current evidence on incentives with monetary value as motivators for healthy weight and explore community preferences using a door-to-door citizen survey (online option) and citizen involvement via pop-up cafés and social media to decide what would work best. The co-designed incentive intervention will be tested to see if it is helpful and can be delivered in a larger trial with linkage to future health outcomes and long-term follow-up


Research activity codes: 3.1 PRIMARY PREVENTION INTERVENTIONS TO MODIFY BEHAVIOURS OR PROMOTE WELL-BEING
Health categories: CANCER AND NEOPLASMS;CARDIOVASCULAR;METABOLIC AND ENDOCRINE;ORAL AND GASTROINTESTINAL;STROKE
Title: Assessing the implementation of the Public Health Scotland Physical Activity Referral Standards: A process evaluation.
Funder: Chief Scientist Office, Scotland

Abstract: Physical inactivity is a major public health problem and increasing population physical activity levels is a Scottish Government priority. In Scotland, 49% of men and 58% of women are not active enough to benefit their health, increasing their risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and some cancers. One approach to address this is the provision of physical activity referral schemes (PARS). These are widely available across Scotland and involve healthcare professionals referring patients with a range of health conditions to leisure providers. Schemes include supervised physical activity programmes after an individual assessment and are usually 10-16 weeks long. PARS are effective in increasing activity for older people and those with cardiovascular risk factors, but it is unclear what PARS delivery models work best for other health conditions (for example, a scheme for heart health may require a different approach to one for mental health). To help guide practice, Public Health Scotland published National Physical Activity Referral Standards in February 2022. These have six elements: partnership working, local delivery models, learning and workforce development, data systems; monitoring and evaluation; and sharing learning and good practice. In this project, we will evaluate the implementation of the Standards and assess whether the monitoring data suggested by the Standards is suitable for a future evaluation of PARS effectiveness and cost effectiveness. This will be followed by a National Institute for Health and Care Research grant application for a national evaluation of PARS effectiveness to increase understanding of what works best and for whom.


Research activity codes: 8.1 ORGANISATION AND DELIVERY OF SERVICES
Health categories: CANCER AND NEOPLASMS;CARDIOVASCULAR;METABOLIC AND ENDOCRINE;ORAL AND GASTROINTESTINAL;STROKE
Title: The Daily Mile': Data linkage study exploring health inequalities and uptake of the Daily Mile across Northern Ireland
Funder: Public Health Agency, NI

Abstract: Objectives - The objective of this research proposal are to highlight the need to generate an evidence base for the inclusion of the Daily Mile in policy in Northern Ireland. A four phased long-term programme of research is proposed to be undertaken on behalf of the Northern Ireland Daily Mile Network in collaboration with the Public Health Agency, Education Authority, Ulster University, Stranmillis University College and The


Research activity codes: 3.1 PRIMARY PREVENTION INTERVENTIONS TO MODIFY BEHAVIOURS OR PROMOTE WELL-BEING
Health categories: CANCER AND NEOPLASMS;CARDIOVASCULAR;METABOLIC AND ENDOCRINE;ORAL AND GASTROINTESTINAL;STROKE
Title: Food Innovation
Funder: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

Abstract: The majority of dietary advice informing policy for the maintenance and promotion of health is based upon observational studies that associate estimations of dietary intake with the occurrence of chronic disease. Observational studies are useful, but cannot provide mechanistic insight of how foods and diets can promote health. Through understanding the underlying mechanisms, the beneficial functional traits of foods can be enhanced. However, it is most challenging to disassociate functional components of individual foods and complex diets from confounding life-style factors, and to design of well controlled human intervention studies with complex foods. _x000D__x000D_ _x000D__x000D_ To address this challenge, Theme 1 â€˜Food Innovationâ€™ will focus on developing innovative foods that have contrasting chemical and physical properties that may affect health related indices including rate of digestion, bioavailability of nutrients and non-nutrient bioactives, gut hormone signalling and microbial communities in the upper and lower GI tract. These foods will be used to test hypotheses in both in vitro and in vivo studies in Themes 2, 3, and 4. _x000D__x000D_ _x000D__x000D_ This will involve exploiting recent advances in crop genomics including sequenced wheat TILLING populations. Selected crop genotypes with variation in starch biosynthetic genes will be used to explore the effects on digestion of carbohydrates. A complementary approach to delay starch digestion is through food processing and to retain starch (and other macronutrients) within plant organelles in the food product. Experimental foods of this nature will be developed with an emphasis on exploiting pulses to retain plant structures through innovative processing procedures._x000D__x000D_ _x000D__x000D_ We will also seek to develop novel food products that are rich in specific plant specialised metabolites that have been implicated in the control of lipid and carbohydrate metabolism or which would be expected to beneficially alter gut microbiota metabolism. This will include using new genetic technologies, including gene editing in Brassica to understand how specialised sulphur metabolism is regulated. New food products will be developed for use in well controlled human intervention studies. _x000D__x000D_ _x000D__x000D_ The outputs of this work will deliver insights into the genetic regulation of nutritional traits in plants, and how these can be translated into food products which may impact health. Secondly, it will generate experimental material for Themes 2, 3 and 4. It will also facilitate collaboration with the commercial food sector leading to the development of new food products with enhanced nutritional attributes.


Research activity codes: 3.2 INTERVENTIONS TO ALTER PHYSICAL AND BIOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS
Health categories: CANCER AND NEOPLASMS;CARDIOVASCULAR;METABOLIC AND ENDOCRINE;ORAL AND GASTROINTESTINAL;STROKE
Title: Crop Quality
Funder: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

Abstract: Recent progress in genomic and transcriptomic technologies for crop species provides new opportunities to apply our expertise directly to these species, in order to underpin improvements in crop quality. We have an outstanding track record in research on the nutritional importance of phenylpropanoids, the composition of pea seeds, plant zinc and iron homeostasis and starch synthesis and turnover. Across these research areas, we will use new knowledge of the genetic control of crop composition to develop suites of crop plants differing only in a single aspect of composition. We will be test for health promoting, digestive and functional properties. The outcome will be a new, systematic understanding of the nutritional importance of crop components, the effects of composition on food functionality and consumer acceptability, and means of breeding nutritionally superior crops. This work includes use of knowledge of the relationship between starch properties, starch synthesis and starch granule initiation to develop wheat lines containing starches that differ in resistance to digestion.


Research activity codes: 3.2 INTERVENTIONS TO ALTER PHYSICAL AND BIOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS
Health categories: CANCER AND NEOPLASMS;CARDIOVASCULAR;METABOLIC AND ENDOCRINE;ORAL AND GASTROINTESTINAL;STROKE
Title: Mapping the Occurrence and Characteristics of Type 1 Resistant Starch
Funder: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

Abstract: Resistant starch (RS) encompasses starch that escapes digestion in the upper gastrointestinal tract and is therefore delivered to the colon. RS may have health beneficial effects associated with its low-glycaemic properties and its utilisation by the colonic microbiota. Type 1 RS (â€˜RS1â€™) is one of the less widely studied forms of RS and exists within a range of plant-based foods. However, current analytical methodologies for quantifying RS in food are inadequate, particularly for RS1. There is also a limited understanding of where, how and to what extent RS is broken down during digestive transit in vivo, which makes it challenging to interpret and predict the metabolic and physiological consequences of RS consumption. Moreover, the occurrence of RS in food has never been systematically documented. _x000D__x000D_ This research aims to a) provide new understanding of the critical plant material characteristics that are responsible for RS1 occurrence in food, and b) understand its digestion which has consequences for metabolism and gut health._x000D__x000D_ The objectives are to:_x000D__x000D_ i) Develop new methodologies to quantify the occurrence of RS1 in plant foods. _x000D__x000D_ ii) Identify critical characteristics that are responsible for the presence of RS1 in cooked plant materials._x000D__x000D_ iii) Examine susceptibility of RS1 to physical/biochemical breakdown during digestive passage._x000D__x000D_ iv) Evaluate implications of findings from obj. i - iii for using RS1 in the design of functional food products with nutritional benefits and identify future research needs. _x000D__x000D_ Approach: Microscopy techniques and in vitro starch digestibility methods will be purposefully developed and used to screen for RS1 in cooked pulses, potatoes, pseudo-cereals etc., which have contrasting plant material characteristics. Subjecting plant materials to simulated digestive conditions, e.g. based on INFOGEST protocol, will provide insight into the digestive fate of RS1 and potential nutritional implications.


Research activity codes: 3.2 INTERVENTIONS TO ALTER PHYSICAL AND BIOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS
Health categories: CANCER AND NEOPLASMS;CARDIOVASCULAR;METABOLIC AND ENDOCRINE;ORAL AND GASTROINTESTINAL;STROKE
Title: Digital Nutritional Assessment Tool
Funder: Economic and Social Research Council

Abstract: The project will test: Work Package 1 Prototype Development: Can a tool be developed to assess nutrition risk? This project will involve continuous development of the application alongside Game Doctor and 4 advisory groups of key stakeholders (2 older adults, care staff and care management, health professionals, app designers and a nutritionist). Four 2hr advisory group meetings (AGM) will develop and test the usability of an app to identify malnutrition in adults living in assisted living or care homes. Work Package 2 Prototype Testing: Can the tool be used to monitor nutritional intake, preferences and risks long term? Do older people and/or care staff find the use of a photo food tool feasible to use? Older adults will have access to the tool for 4 weeks, a time similar to other feasibility studies to test for usability on themselves. Users will take photos of the full food plate and then the finished food plate to give an accurate representation of food intake. Photos of all snacks will also be taken. Semi-structured interviews will be conducted with Users who used the tool to assess acceptability before further improvement and testing.

Lay abstract: Malnutrition (or insufficient nutrient intake) is a significant issue for older people in the UK, and is strongly associated with poorer quality of life, functional decline and deteriorating health. Over 35% of people in care homes are affected by malnutrition with risk increasing the longer someone lives in care with it taking as little as 2 days to become malnourished. This project will develop a tool to identify malnutrition and its risk through taking photographs to identify nutritional intake. Previous studies have highlighted that malnutrition is not recorded accurately in older people in health and social care with extreme inaccuracies in diet diaries and problems including lack of staff time, difficulty remembering foods eaten, or needing a dietician to interpret the results. Linking food photos to existing food information means that it is possible to store detailed nutrient intake. We will use computer learning to link photographs of food to important measures such as food preference, physical symptoms, and malnutrition risk. The food classification tool will be delivered through a mobile phone app which will also consider portion size and eating frequency. Through this we will be able to link food intake to preferences and/or symptoms and identify foods hazardous or not preferred to decrease malnutrition risk among older people. We will develop the prototype tool and test how acceptable and usable it is in people living in care homes and their care staff, including people living with dementia.

Research activity codes: 7.1 INDIVIDUAL CARE NEEDS
Health categories: CANCER AND NEOPLASMS;CARDIOVASCULAR;METABOLIC AND ENDOCRINE;ORAL AND GASTROINTESTINAL;STROKE
Title: Towards the full cost of diets: valuing and attributing food system externalities to improve decision-making for human and planetary health
Funder: Wellcome Trust

Abstract: The health and environmental challenges posed by unhealthy and unsustainable diets, and the food system underpinning those, have emerged as key public and planetary health concerns. Whilst there is broad consensus on the long-term need for dietary and food-system change, adequate policy responses are lacking. My aim is to improve decision-making for human and planetary health by addressing two major obstacles: the lack of consistent attribution of food-related health and environmental impacts to dietary changes, and the lack of representing those impacts in the comparable monetary terms that are relevant for policy appraisals and decision-making. My key goals are to: 1. Estimate and attribute the health and environmental impacts of dietary changes at scales relevant for decision-making. 2. Estimate the monetary and economic value of the health and environmental impacts of dietary changes. 3. Co-create and analyse policy options for integrating the health and environmental impacts of dietary changes into decision-making. In my methodological approach, I will follow a systems perspective and extend and link health, environmental, and economic models. The focus in the first five years will be the health impacts of climate change and air pollution that are linked to diets, and the impacts diets have on biodiversity and ecosystem services.


Research activity codes: 2.3 PSYCHOLOGICAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC FACTORS;3.1 PRIMARY PREVENTION INTERVENTIONS TO MODIFY BEHAVIOURS OR PROMOTE WELL-BEING;8.3 POLICY, ETHICS AND RESEARCH GOVERNANCE
Health categories: CANCER AND NEOPLASMS;CARDIOVASCULAR;METABOLIC AND ENDOCRINE;ORAL AND GASTROINTESTINAL;STROKE
Title: EDESIA: Plants, Food and Health: a cross-disciplinary PhD programme from Crop to Clinic
Funder: Wellcome Trust

Abstract: In an era where preventive medicine is increasingly important due to an ageing population and rising obesity, optimised diets are key to improving health and reducing risk of ill health. The EDESIA PhD programme will focus on investigating plant-based nutrition and health, from crop to clinic, drawing on the world-class interdisciplinary research expertise of institutions based on the Norwich Research Park (UEA, John Innes Centre, Quadram Institute, Earlham Institute, and Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital). Through a rotation-based programme, EDESIA PhD students will train in a wide range of disciplines across the translational pathway of nutrition research, including assessment of nutritional bioactives, biochemical, genetic, cell biological and functional analyses of plant metabolites, in vitro analyses in tissue and cell cultures, investigation of efficacy in animal models of disease, investigation of effects on composition and functioning of the microbiota, human intervention studies and analyses of epidemiological datasets. This comprehensive PhD training programme allows the translation of science into guidelines for healthy eating and the production of nutritionally improved food crops, leading to innovative food products, particularly for prevention and treatment of chronic diseases where age is a major risk.


Research activity codes: 3.3 NUTRITION AND CHEMOPREVENTION
Health categories: CANCER AND NEOPLASMS;CARDIOVASCULAR;METABOLIC AND ENDOCRINE;ORAL AND GASTROINTESTINAL;STROKE
Title: Local food-growing initiatives respond to the Covid-19 crisis: enhancing well-being, building community for better futures
Funder: Arts and Humanities Research Council

Abstract: The Covid-19 crisis has revealed the stark inequalities in UK society. Many vulnerable people have had more difficulty accessing food, so third-sector organisations have mobilised emergency food provision. They have also expanded community food-growing initiatives, which enhance participants' well-being, strengthen social cohesion, localise food provision and thus build future resilience. This project will investigate the expansion of community cultivation during the Covid-19 crisis, its benefits, social barriers and means to overcome them, especially for more vulnerable marginalised social groups, with the aim to strengthen third-sector capacities for such inclusion. Through participatory digital story-telling, this project will work with third-sector partners in community cultivation to elicit participants' feelings, aspirations, social connections and multiple benefits from community food activities. This knowledge will identify the most effective strategies that have been deployed during the Covid-19 crisis, and devise ways to share and promote them. Thus the digital story-telling process has a dual purpose: a research method and a means to promote better practices through our third-sector partners. As a practical impact, food growing activities will strengthen their engagement with vulnerable marginalised people, thus helping to overcome inequalities. Based on the digital assets and research insights, the project will provide an open-access online capacity-building programme for community food programmes, so that they can outscale similar benefits around the country. This impacts will promote better mental health, well-being and better access to healthy food; they will also spread agri-food practices that enhance social resilience, and thus provide an alternative to the unhealthy, unsustainable agrifood system.


Research activity codes: 3.1 PRIMARY PREVENTION INTERVENTIONS TO MODIFY BEHAVIOURS OR PROMOTE WELL-BEING;1.2 PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SOCIOECONOMIC PROCESSES
Health categories: CANCER AND NEOPLASMS;CARDIOVASCULAR;METABOLIC AND ENDOCRINE;ORAL AND GASTROINTESTINAL;STROKE