A paper on food and health research, jointly published by faculty members and students from UM and a student from Northeastern University in China, recently received the Best Paper Award in the Data Engineering Meets Intelligent Food and COoking Recipe (DECOR) workshop, which was part of the 35th International Conference on Data Engineering (ICDE) of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

The paper was co-written by Assistant Professor Angela Chang and master’s student Hu Jieyi from the Department of Communication, Faculty of Social Sciences, UM; Prof Matthew Liu Tingchi from the Faculty of Business Administration (FBA), UM; and Liu Yichao, a master’s student from Northeastern University in China. Titled ‘Data Mining Approach to Chinese Food Analysis for Diet-Related Cardiometabolic Diseases’, the paper explores the emerging computer-aided methodology in order to understand how news media discuss food, diet, and related cardiometabolic diseases. Considering the increasing number of people suffering from diet-related cardiometabolic diseases, the paper brings into question the media’s efforts in reporting food- and health-related topics and shows how the frequent coverage of food and drinks has gradually led to health problems among the general public. The paper also provides new insights for food and health research, policy making, and the social responsibility of food and media companies.

Hu expressed her enthusiasm in preparing the manuscript and how wonderful the learning experience was in the DECOR workshop. ‘The process was quite tense, but it was a very worthy experience because I could discuss food science issues with researchers from all over the world,’ says Hu.

As a corresponding author of the paper, Dr Chang has been focusing on advertising and consumption, media applications, and health communication in her research studies. She has published more than 60 papers in academic journals, books, and conferences.

Prof Liu is currently the director of the Centre for Continuing Education and a professor in the FBA. He has received several awards for teaching, research, and services from the faculty. So far, he has published more than 150 papers in top academic journals and conferences, as well as more than 400 newspaper articles and popular science articles.

Source: Faculty of Social Sciences

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