Diet, obesity and nutrition
Advice on health categories
The coding for studies on obesity, diet and nutrition will depend on the nature of the research.
Use Metabolic and Endocrine for investigation of metabolic disorders or dietary metabolism. Mental Health is appropriate for studies of eating disorders and Oral and Gastrointestinal should be used to code for studies of absorption from the gut.
Only use the following standardised breakdown of health categories and percentages for general studies on nutrition, obesity or poor diet where there is no other indication of disease area:
| Health Category | Percentage |
| Cancer and neoplasms | 20 |
| Cardiovascular | 20 |
| Metabolic and Endocrine | 20 |
| Oral and Gastrointestinal | 20 |
| Stroke | 20 |
Note that this standardised breakdown is shared with research on physical activity and exercise.
Advice on research activities
Obesity is considered a risk factor for other diseases. Therefore, interventions to reduce obesity should be coded as 3 Prevention, even if the person is already obese. Use 5 Treatment Development or 6 Treatment Evaluation for studies focussed on treatment of an existing obesity-related disease and in cases of secondary prevention (additional guidance on differentiating secondary and primary prevention is also available).
There are three main research activity code groups typically associated with diet and nutrition research:
- 3 Prevention for studies focussed on preventing ill health or promoting well being.
- Use 3.1 Primary Prevention for interventions that aim to modify behaviour or lifestyle
- Use 3.3 Nutrition Prevention for studies on the chemopreventative / health protective effect of nutrients, probiotics and nutritional supplements.
- For studies where nutrition, diet or exercise is used to treat established diseases/conditions. Use 5 Treatment Development for pre-clinical research and 6 Treatment Evaluation for clinical/applied research.
- Use 5.1 or 6.1 (Pharmaceuticals) for direct use of nutritional supplements as therapeutics
- Use 5.2 or 6.2 (Cellular / Gene Therapy) for microbiota transplantation therapy
- Use 5.7 or 6.7 (Physical) for dietics (nutrition and dietary advice) and exercise/physical therapy
- Use 5.8 or 6.8 (Complementary) for studies of homeopathy
Main inclusion criteria
Includes both ischaemic stroke (caused by blood clots) and haemorrhagic stroke (caused by cerebral/intercranial haemorrhage).
Advice on health categories
When coding research involving circulation or blood flow, only studies investigating blood flow to the brain should be coded as Stroke.
While general blood circulation and cardiovascular disease research should be coded as Cardiovascular, research involving blood flow to brain should be coded as Stroke. Therefore haemorrhagic stroke will generally be coded as 100% Stroke unless there is a clear pre-existing condition, in which case the guidance on sequelae should be followed:
e.g. Research on stroke resulting from brain haemorrhage should be coded as 100% Stroke.
e.g. Research on stroke as the direct result of pre-existing circulatory disorder should be coded as 50% Cardiovascular and 50% Stroke.
While general studies of clotting and thromboses should be coded as Blood, research involving blood flow to brain should be coded as Stroke. Therefore ischaemic stroke will generally be coded as 100% Stroke unless there is a clear pre-existing condition, in which case the guidance on sequelae should be followed:
e.g. Research on stroke resulting from thrombosis should be coded as 100% Stroke.
e.g. Research on stroke as the direct result of pre-existing clotting disorder should be coded as 50% Blood and 50% Stroke.
Similarly, research on symptoms of stroke on stroke survivors should also be coded as Stroke. However, the specific symptoms (e.g. behavioural changes, mobility issues, further circulatory problems) and interventions used to treat them may be applicable to other health categories too. Use the guidance on case studies and/or sequelae to assess whether alternative or additional coding is required.
Official terminology
|
Full name of category |
Short name | Unique ID |
| Stroke | Stroke |
HRCS_HC_19STR |
Related external links
Main inclusion criteria
Inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn’s disease, diseases of the mouth, teeth, oesophagus, digestive system including liver and colon, and normal oral and gastrointestinal development and function.
Advice on health categories
Includes dental research and studies on the mouth, throat, stomach, liver, pancreas (not diabetes/insulin related), gut and colon.
Also suitable for problems linked to food absorption by the gut.
Official terminology
|
Full name of category |
Short Name | Unique ID |
| Oral and gastrointestinal | Oral |
HRCS_HC_14ORA |
Related external links
Main inclusion criteria
Metabolic disorders (including Diabetes) and normal metabolism and endocrine development and function. This includes all research on the pineal, thyroid, parathyroid, pituitary and adrenal glands.
Advice on health categories
This category includes basic studies of metabolism but not generic signalling pathways involving kinases.
This includes studies of metabolic regulation – the means by which nutrients are converted into energy – and the conditions which affect the ability of these processes to be carried out. For example regulation of blood lipids and cholesterol are classified as Metabolic and Endocrine.
Studies on nutrition, diet and obesity and/or physical activity and exercise are context based and should only be coded as Metabolic if they relate to metabolism.
e.g. diet and exercise interventions specifically aimed at reducing cholesterol levels.
This category also includes normal function and disorders of the endocrine system, including pineal, thyroid, parathyroid, pituitary and adrenal glands, and most hormones and hormone receptor studies. There are however some notable exceptions:
- Studies of reproductive hormones, including their role in fertility, menstruation, pregnancy and menopause, are usually coded as Reproductive Health and Childbirth and not Metabolic. Studies relating to the development of male and female reproductive organs should be coded as Renal and Urogenital.
- Studies of the pancreas and its role in metabolism, including regulation of blood sugar and Diabetes, should be coded as Metabolic. Studies of the pancreas and its role in digestion, including pancreatic juices, should be coded as Oral and Gastrointestinal.
- Studies of the hypothalamus and its role in metabolism should be coded as Metabolic. Studies of the hypothalamus as part of the brain and central nervous system should be coded as Neurological.
Official terminology
|
Full name of category |
Short name | Unique ID |
| Metabolic and endocrine | Metabolic |
HRCS_HC_11MET |
Related external links
Main inclusion criteria
Depression, schizophrenia, psychosis and personality disorders, addiction, suicide, anxiety, eating disorders, learning disabilities, bipolar disorder, autistic spectrum disorders and studies of normal psychology, cognitive function and behaviour.
Advice on health categories
Mental Health should be used for all normal cognitive research categorised to 1.2 Psychological i.e. behaviour learning, memory, language, perception etc.
Studies dealing with the brain of individuals with a psychological condition listed in the Mental Health category should be coded as 100% Mental Health and not as Neurological.
Official terminology
|
Full name of category |
Short name | Unique ID |
| Mental health | Mental |
HRCS_HC_10MEN |
Related external links
Main inclusion criteria
Coronary heart disease, diseases of the vasculature and circulation including the lymphatic system, and normal development and function of the cardiovascular system.
Advice on health categories
Includes general circulation research, vasculitis and general angiogenesis studies. Includes atherosclerosis and pulmonary hypertension. Includes congenital heart disorders. Excludes studies investigating blood flow to the brain which should be coded as Stroke. Excludes angiogenesis studies which relate to a diseased state (e.g. development of anti-angiogenic drugs to inhibit tumour growth which would be coded as Cancer).
Official terminology
| Full name of category | Short name | Unique ID |
| Cardiovascular | Cardio | HRCS_HC_03CAR |
Related external links
Main inclusion criteria
All types of neoplasms, including benign, potentially malignant, malignant (cancer) and canerous growths. This includes leukaemia and mesothelioma.
Advice on health categories
Do not code to the site of the cancer. However if the research involves studying a condition that predisposes to cancer then it may be appropriate to code for this condition as well.
e.g. The role of Barrett’s oesophagus in cancer would be 50% Oral and Gastrointestinal and 50% Cancer.
Similarly research on pathogens associated with the development of cancer should be coded as 50% Cancer and 50% Infection.
Studies of the normal role of oncogenes, tumour suppressor genes, and cell cycle checkpoints in a non diseased cell should be coded as 50% Generic Health Relevance and 50% Cancer.
Excludes general studies of angiogenesis which should be coded as Cardiovascular. However the development of anti-angiogenic drugs to inhibit tumour growth would be coded as Cancer.
Excludes normal studies of cell cycle and DNA replication and repair which should be coded as Generic.
Official terminology
|
Full name of category |
Short name | Unique ID |
| Cancer | Cancer |
HRCS_HC_02CAN |
Related external links
International Classification of Diseases (ICD 10 v2016) – Chapter II: Neoplasms (C00-D48)