Georgios Papastefanou

A Method of Indoor Ambulatory Monitoring for Psycho-Physiological and Behavioral Activity Assessment

This study proposes a method for indoor activity assessment by means of continuous and quantitative measure of personal physical and mental activity, basing on contents and contexture of location and behaviors. This article focused on development of an integrated wearable instrument which is capable of both indoor movements tracking and monitoring of concurrent psycho-physiologically indicated mental activity. A body-mounted inertial instrument utilizing accelerometers, gyros, and a bolometer was designed to obtain feature of three-dimensional indoor locomotive behaviors. Skin resistance change by electro-dermal activity was measured as an index of emotional arousal. Potential usefulness for assessing indoor pedestrian was demonstrated in a multi-story building.

Investigating the influence of eating habits, body weight and television programme preferences on television viewing time and domestic computer usage

Background: The present study explored the influence of eating habits, body weight and television programme preference on television viewing time and domestic computer usage, after adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics and home media environment indicators. In addition, potential substitution or complementarity in screen time was investigated. Methods: Individual level data were collected via questionnaires that were administered to a random sample of 2,946 Germans. The econometric analysis employed a seemingly unrelated bivariate ordered probit model to conjointly estimate television viewing time and time engaged in domestic computer usage. Results: Television viewing and domestic computer usage represent two independent behaviours in both genders and across all age groups. Dietary habits have a significant impact on television watching with less healthy food choices associated with increasing television viewing time. Body weight is found to be positively correlated with television screen time in both men and women, and overweight individuals have a higher propensity for heavy television viewing. Similar results were obtained for age groups where an increasing body mass index (BMI) in adults over 24 years old is more likely to be positively associated with a higher duration of television watching. With respect to dietary habits of domestic computer users, participants aged over 24 years of both genders seem to adopt more healthy dietary patterns. A downward trend in the BMI of domestic computer users was observed in women and adults aged 25–60 years. On the contrary, young domestic computer users 18–24 years old have a higher body weight than non-users. Television programme preferences also affect television screen time with clear differences to be observed between genders and across different age groups. Conclusions: In order to reduce total screen time, health interventions should target different types of screen viewing audiences separately.