A0836
Title: Identification and estimation of the average causal effects under dietary substitution strategies
Authors: Lan Wen - University of Waterloo (Canada) [presenting]
Abstract: The 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines suggest that most people can improve their diet by making some changes to what they eat and drink. In many cases, these changes involve simple substitutions. For instance, the guidelines suggest replacing processed red meat with chicken to lower sodium intake and choosing whole grains over refined grains to increase dietary fiber intake. The question about these dietary substitution strategies seeks to estimate the counterfactual mean outcome under a hypothetical intervention that replaces a food an individual would have consumed in the absence of intervention with a healthier substitute. Conditions under which the average causal effects of substitution strategies can be identified are shown. Efficient estimators for the proposed food substitution strategy are also provided, and the methodology is demonstrated via simulation studies and an application utilizing data from the Nurses Health Study.
