Shu Wen Ng is a health economist whose main scholarly objective is to further understanding of individual and household-level decisions about dietary and activity behaviors and their health impact. Her research acknowledges that such decisions are constrained by monetary, time and biological factors, and are made within a broader environmental or policy context. To consider such behaviors, decisions and outcomes, Dr. Ng relies on tools and approaches from economics, epidemiology, sociology and public policy, and collaborates with others who have expertise in these disciplines. Dr. Ng’s research to date primarily involves innovations in: a) combining large secondary data sources to identify potential macro-level levers (e.g., policy, industry pledges); b) creating new metrics by which to measure shifts in the culture of eating and moving, and; c) analyzing the circumstances under which these shifts occur, so as to identify areas for effective and sustainable changes in individuals’ or households’ (micro-level) health behaviors, especially among the most vulnerable.

Dr. Ng has been co-Investigator on several foundation and NIH studies that use ‘big-data’ on commercial store sales, household purchase, and nutrition label data at the barcode level (scanner data), alongside dietary intake and nutrition databases. Analyzing such data, she has studied how policies such as taxation or quotas affect consumer purchases, diet, nutrition, and health outcomes across many settings. In addition, Dr. Ng has analyzed historical time-use data from a range of countries to estimate activity levels across domains of daily living and to identify trends and patterns by subpopulations.

Visit the UNC Gillings website to learn more about Shu Wen Ng’s honors and awards, research interests, key publications and more. 

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