# SenseWhy: Overeating in Obesity Through the Lens of Passive Sensing

> **NIH NIH K25** · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $165,136

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Medical professionals have recently put to rest the idea that there is an ideal weight loss diet for everyone. One
cause for obesity is overeating, but we do not know what patterns and behaviors contribute to this problematic
habit. Defining problematic eating behaviors that lead to energy imbalance is essential for treating obesity.
Studies typically focus on a single putative causal mechanism of overeating such as stress or craving, not
addressing the multiple features that co-occur with overeating. Hence, the factors that predict overeating
episodes remain unknown, as do which of them contribute to an individual's consistency and variability of
overeating.
Given recent advancements in passive sensing, we now have the potential to detect problematic eating using
seamlessly captured physiological features such as number of feeding gestures and swallows, and heart rate
variability. Collecting detectable and predictable features that identify overeating will hone in on the patterns that
interventionists may optimally target to help populations with obesity understand their eating habits and ultimately
improve their ability to self-regulate their eating behaviors. Location-scale models will map the factors that most
contribute to habit formation within subjects, providing interventionists with essential targets to guide behavior.
The first aim is to collect sensor-based and ecological momentary assessment data (to assess factors not yet
detectable through sensing) from adults with obesity and apply machine learning algorithms to identify a subset
of features that detect overeating, as validated against ground truth of videotaped eating episodes and 24 hour
dietary recall. Participants will wear a passive sensing sensor suite and respond to random and event-triggered
prompts regarding each eating episode. Then, machine learning will determine the optimal feature subset that
detect overeating episodes using Gradient Boosting Machines. In the second aim, hierarchical clustering
techniques will cluster overeating episodes into theoretically meaningful and clinically known problematic
behaviors related to overeating. The final aim is to build statistical models that explain the effect of detectable
and clinically-known problematic features on new habit formation. These models will lay a foundation for
optimization studies to discover evidence-based decision rules that can guide timely interventions to treat obesity
by preventing overeating, and maintaining healthy eating behaviors.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10310490
- **Project number:** 5K25DK113242-05
- **Recipient organization:** NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Nabil Alshurafa
- **Activity code:** K25 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $165,136
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-01-01 → 2022-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10310490

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10310490, SenseWhy: Overeating in Obesity Through the Lens of Passive Sensing (5K25DK113242-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10310490. Licensed CC0.

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