Tony Kuo
Biographic Data
| ID | 202882 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Tony Kuo |
| GIVEN NAMES | Tony |
| FAMILY NAME | Kuo |
| SIGNATURE | KUO T |
| AFFILIATIONS | Los Angeles County Department of Public Health |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-4120-8559 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 29 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 35 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 29 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2009 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
A Multicenter Qualitative Stakeholder Evaluation of the Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Programs in the Los Angeles County Safety-Net Healthcare System
Violent injury is a leading cause of death and non-fatal injury among individuals aged 5 to 35 in the USA, with reinjury rates ranging from 29 to 37%. This study explores the barriers and facilitators to an intervention designed to prevent violent reinjury, the Los Angeles County Hospital Violence Intervention Program (LAHVIP), through key informant interviews. This qualitative study evaluated LAHVIP through interviews with 16 stakeholders from t…
Patterns of Health Care Access and Use in an Urban American Indian and Alaska Native Population
Modeling Covid-19 infection dynamics and mitigation strategies for in-person K-6 instruction
Background: U.S. school closures due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic led to extended periods of remote learning and social and economic impact on families. Uncertainty about virus dynamics made it difficult for school districts to develop mitigation plans that all stakeholders consider to be safe. Methods: We developed an agent-based model of infection dynamics and preventive mitigation designed as a conceptual tool to give sc…
Financial and Other Life Stressors, Psychological Distress, and Food and Beverage Consumption among Students Attending a Large California State University during the Covid-19 Pandemic
The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic abruptly disrupted the daily lives and health of college students across the United States. This study investigated several stressors (e.g., financial strain/uncertainty), psychological distress, and dietary behaviors among college students attending a large state university during the pandemic. A cross-sectional online survey was administered to students from the California State University,…
Clinic- and Community-Based National Diabetes Prevention Programs in Los Angeles
Clinics and community-based organizations (CBOs) are priority settings for implementing the evidence-based National Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP). Both program settings present theoretical advantages and disadvantages for engaging and helping populations most at risk for diabetes achieve lifestyle change goals. To date, few studies have compared implementation across them. The present study describes participant characteristics and lifestyle …
Impact of Covid-19 by Pandemic Wave among Patients with Gastroenterology Symptoms in the Emergency Departments at a Medical Center in Taiwan
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected emergency department (ED) usage. This study examines changes in the number of ED visits for gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding and nonemergency GI conditions, such as acute gastroenteritis (AGE) and constipation, before the pandemic and at the peak and slack periods of the pandemic in Taiwan. This retrospective observational study was conducted at a referral medical center in northern Taiwan. We recorded the number …
Understanding the Neuroscience Underpinnings of Obesity and Depression: Implications for Policy Development and Public Health Practice
OPINION article Front. Public Health, 20 August 2021 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.714236
What Are the Relationships between Psychosocial Community Characteristics and Dietary Behaviors in a Racially/Ethnically Diverse Urban Population in Los Angeles County
To address existing gaps in public health practice, we used data from a 2014 internet panel survey of 954 Los Angeles County adults to investigate the relationships between psychosocial community characteristics (PCCs) and two key chronic disease-related dietary behaviors: fruit and vegetable (F+V) and soda consumption. Negative binomial regression models estimated the associations between 'neighborhood risks and resources' and 'sense of communit…
Commentary: Does the Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic Call for a New Model of Older People Care
Neighborhood Environments, SNAP-Ed Eligibility, and Health Behaviors: An Analysis of the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS)
Early Childhood Obesity Among Underserved Families: A Multilevel Community–Academic Partnership
A community–academic partnership, based on a social–ecological framework, addressed pediatric obesity by implementing a multilevel intervention for underserved families in Los Angeles, California. Individual- and interpersonal-level outcomes included significant positive changes in preschoolers’ identification of unhealthy foods and in parents’ shopping, cooking, and parenting behaviors. Organizational-, community-, and policy-level outcomes incl…
Self-Reported Interest to Participate in a Health Survey if Different Amounts of Cash or Non-Monetary Incentive Types Were Offered
Food and drink consumption among 1–5-year-old Los Angeles County children from households receiving dual SNAP and WIC v. only WIC benefits
Objective The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) are two of the more well-known food assistance programmes in the USA. The current study describes food consumption patterns of children aged 1–5 years living in households dually enrolled in these two programmes v . households enrolled only in WIC. Design Food consumption and SNAP participation were …
Prediabetes, diabetes, and other CVD-related conditions among Asian populations in Los Angeles County, 2014
Objective: To assess the prevalence of four common health conditions related to cardiovascular disease risk among Asians in Los Angeles County. Methods: A survey of Asians in Los Angeles County was conducted utilizing purposive sampling to recruit from the region's Service Planning Areas 3 and 4; these underserved areas contain high density of Asian populations. Descriptive and multivariable regression analyses were performed to explore and descr…
Describing theoretical underpinnings in juvenile justice diversion: A case study explicating Teen Court program theory to guide research and practice
Youths' Perspectives on the Reasons Underlying School Truancy and Opportunities to Improve School Attendance
School truancy is common in the United States; however, youths’ perspectives on the underlying reasons for and the best ways to curtail this phenomenon are lacking. This project sought to better understand what factors contribute to youths’ decisions to skip classes or ditch full days of school over time and to solicit youths’ recommendations on how to reduce truancy and improve system functioning. We used a community partnered qualitative descri…
Understanding Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Arrest: The Role of Individual, Home, School, and Community Characteristics
Self-Efficacy as a Mediator of the Relationship Between the Perceived Food Environment and Healthy Eating in a Low Income Population in Los Angeles County
Associations between self-perception of weight, food choice intentions, and consumer response to calorie information: A retrospective investigation of public health center clients in Los Angeles Count…
Self-perception of weight was found to be associated with the intention to select lower-calorie foods under the scenario that calorie information was available at point-of-purchase. Future public health efforts to support menu labeling implementation should consider these and other findings to inform consumer education and communications strategies that can be tailored to assist restaurant patrons with this forthcoming federal law
The relationship between amount of soda consumed and intention to reduce soda consumption among adults exposed to the Choose Health LA ‘Sugar Pack’ health marketing campaign
Objective To examine behavioural intention to reduce soda consumption after exposure to the Choose Health LA ‘Sugar Pack’ campaign in Los Angeles County, California, USA. Design A cross-sectional street-intercept survey was conducted to assess knowledge, attitudes, health behaviours and behavioural intentions after exposure to the ‘Sugar Pack’ campaign. A multivariable regression analysis was performed to examine the relationship s between the am…
What menu changes do restaurants make after joining a voluntary restaurant recognition program
The current state of truancy reduction programs and opportunities for enhancement in Los Angeles County
Estimating the Costs and Benefits of Providing Free Public Transit Passes to Students in Los Angeles County: Lessons Learned in Applying a Health Lens to Decision-Making
In spite of increased focus by public health to engage and work with non-health sector partners to improve the health of the general as well as special populations, only a paucity of studies have described and disseminated emerging lessons and promising practices that can be used to undertake this work. This article describes the process used to conduct a Health Impact Assessment of a proposal to provide free public transportation passes to stude…
Using Population Reach as a Proxy Metric for Intervention Impact to Prioritize Selection of Obesity Prevention Strategies in Los Angeles County, 2010–2012
Recent federal initiatives have used estimates of population reach as a proxy metric for intervention impact, in part to inform resource allocation and programmatic decisions about competing priorities in the community. However, in spite of its utility, population reach as a singular metric of intervention impact may be insufficient for guiding multifaceted program decisions. A more comprehensive, validated approach to measure or forecast dose ma…
Assessing the Connection Between Health and Education: Identifying Potential Leverage Points for Public Health to Improve School Attendance
Objectives. We examined multiple variables influencing school truancy to identify potential leverage points to improve school attendance. Methods. A cross-sectional observational design was used to analyze inner-city data collected in Los Angeles County, California, during 2010 to 2011. We constructed an ordinal logistic regression model with cluster robust standard errors to examine the association between truancy and various covariates. Results…
Understanding Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Arrest: The Role of Individual, Home, School, and Community Characteristics
Menu Labeling as a Potential Strategy for Combating the Obesity Epidemic: A Health Impact Assessment
Objectives. We conducted a health impact assessment to quantify the potential impact of a state menu-labeling law on population weight gain in Los Angeles County, California. Methods. We utilized published and unpublished data to model consumer response to point-of-purchase calorie postings at large chain restaurants in Los Angeles County. We conducted sensitivity analyses to account for uncertainty in consumer response and in the total annual re…
The current state of truancy reduction programs and opportunities for enhancement in Los Angeles County
A Framework for Mobilizing Communities to Advance Local Tobacco Control Policy: The Los Angeles County Experience
The Los Angeles County Tobacco Control and Prevention Program was significantly restructured in 2004 to improve capacity for local policy adoption. Restructuring included creating a fully staffed and trained policy unit; partnering with state-funded tobacco control organizations to provide high-quality, continuous technical assistance and training; implementing a highly structured policy adoption approach; expanding community capacity building; a…
Neighborhood Environments, SNAP-Ed Eligibility, and Health Behaviors: An Analysis of the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS)
Using Population Reach as a Proxy Metric for Intervention Impact to Prioritize Selection of Obesity Prevention Strategies in Los Angeles County, 2010–2012
Recent federal initiatives have used estimates of population reach as a proxy metric for intervention impact, in part to inform resource allocation and programmatic decisions about competing priorities in the community. However, in spite of its utility, population reach as a singular metric of intervention impact may be insufficient for guiding multifaceted program decisions. A more comprehensive, validated approach to measure or forecast dose ma…
Menu Labeling as a Potential Strategy for Combating the Obesity Epidemic: A Health Impact Assessment
Objectives. We conducted a health impact assessment to quantify the potential impact of a state menu-labeling law on population weight gain in Los Angeles County, California. Methods. We utilized published and unpublished data to model consumer response to point-of-purchase calorie postings at large chain restaurants in Los Angeles County. We conducted sensitivity analyses to account for uncertainty in consumer response and in the total annual re…
Knowledge, attitudes and potential response to menu labelling in an urban public health clinic population
Objective The present study examines the receptivity to and potential effects of menu labelling on food choices of low-income and minority individuals – a group often at disproportionate risk for preventable, lifestyle-related health conditions (e.g. obesity, diabetes and CVD). Design We conducted a cross-sectional survey to examine the knowledge, attitudes and potential response to menu labelling in an urban public health clinic population. Sett…
Estimating the Potential Health Impact and Costs of Implementing a Local Policy for Food Procurement to Reduce the Consumption of Sodium in the County of Los Angeles
Objectives. We examined approaches to reduce sodium content of food served in settings operated or funded by the government of the County of Los Angeles, California. Methods. We adapted health impact assessment methods to mathematically simulate various levels of reduction in the sodium content of food served by the County of Los Angeles and to estimate the reductions’ potential impacts on mean systolic blood pressure (SBP) among food-service cus…
A Framework for Mobilizing Communities to Advance Local Tobacco Control Policy: The Los Angeles County Experience
The Los Angeles County Tobacco Control and Prevention Program was significantly restructured in 2004 to improve capacity for local policy adoption. Restructuring included creating a fully staffed and trained policy unit; partnering with state-funded tobacco control organizations to provide high-quality, continuous technical assistance and training; implementing a highly structured policy adoption approach; expanding community capacity building; a…
Estimating the Costs and Benefits of Providing Free Public Transit Passes to Students in Los Angeles County: Lessons Learned in Applying a Health Lens to Decision-Making
In spite of increased focus by public health to engage and work with non-health sector partners to improve the health of the general as well as special populations, only a paucity of studies have described and disseminated emerging lessons and promising practices that can be used to undertake this work. This article describes the process used to conduct a Health Impact Assessment of a proposal to provide free public transportation passes to stude…
Using Population Reach as a Proxy Metric for Intervention Impact to Prioritize Selection of Obesity Prevention Strategies in Los Angeles County, 2010–2012
Recent federal initiatives have used estimates of population reach as a proxy metric for intervention impact, in part to inform resource allocation and programmatic decisions about competing priorities in the community. However, in spite of its utility, population reach as a singular metric of intervention impact may be insufficient for guiding multifaceted program decisions. A more comprehensive, validated approach to measure or forecast dose ma…
Assessing the Connection Between Health and Education: Identifying Potential Leverage Points for Public Health to Improve School Attendance
Objectives. We examined multiple variables influencing school truancy to identify potential leverage points to improve school attendance. Methods. A cross-sectional observational design was used to analyze inner-city data collected in Los Angeles County, California, during 2010 to 2011. We constructed an ordinal logistic regression model with cluster robust standard errors to examine the association between truancy and various covariates. Results…
Self-Efficacy as a Mediator of the Relationship Between the Perceived Food Environment and Healthy Eating in a Low Income Population in Los Angeles County
Associations between self-perception of weight, food choice intentions, and consumer response to calorie information: A retrospective investigation of public health center clients in Los Angeles Count…
Self-perception of weight was found to be associated with the intention to select lower-calorie foods under the scenario that calorie information was available at point-of-purchase. Future public health efforts to support menu labeling implementation should consider these and other findings to inform consumer education and communications strategies that can be tailored to assist restaurant patrons with this forthcoming federal law
The relationship between amount of soda consumed and intention to reduce soda consumption among adults exposed to the Choose Health LA ‘Sugar Pack’ health marketing campaign
Objective To examine behavioural intention to reduce soda consumption after exposure to the Choose Health LA ‘Sugar Pack’ campaign in Los Angeles County, California, USA. Design A cross-sectional street-intercept survey was conducted to assess knowledge, attitudes, health behaviours and behavioural intentions after exposure to the ‘Sugar Pack’ campaign. A multivariable regression analysis was performed to examine the relationship s between the am…
What menu changes do restaurants make after joining a voluntary restaurant recognition program
The current state of truancy reduction programs and opportunities for enhancement in Los Angeles County
Youths' Perspectives on the Reasons Underlying School Truancy and Opportunities to Improve School Attendance
School truancy is common in the United States; however, youths’ perspectives on the underlying reasons for and the best ways to curtail this phenomenon are lacking. This project sought to better understand what factors contribute to youths’ decisions to skip classes or ditch full days of school over time and to solicit youths’ recommendations on how to reduce truancy and improve system functioning. We used a community partnered qualitative descri…
Understanding Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Arrest: The Role of Individual, Home, School, and Community Characteristics
Food and drink consumption among 1–5-year-old Los Angeles County children from households receiving dual SNAP and WIC v. only WIC benefits
Objective The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) are two of the more well-known food assistance programmes in the USA. The current study describes food consumption patterns of children aged 1–5 years living in households dually enrolled in these two programmes v . households enrolled only in WIC. Design Food consumption and SNAP participation were …
Prediabetes, diabetes, and other CVD-related conditions among Asian populations in Los Angeles County, 2014
Objective: To assess the prevalence of four common health conditions related to cardiovascular disease risk among Asians in Los Angeles County. Methods: A survey of Asians in Los Angeles County was conducted utilizing purposive sampling to recruit from the region's Service Planning Areas 3 and 4; these underserved areas contain high density of Asian populations. Descriptive and multivariable regression analyses were performed to explore and descr…
Describing theoretical underpinnings in juvenile justice diversion: A case study explicating Teen Court program theory to guide research and practice
Self-Reported Interest to Participate in a Health Survey if Different Amounts of Cash or Non-Monetary Incentive Types Were Offered
Early Childhood Obesity Among Underserved Families: A Multilevel Community–Academic Partnership
A community–academic partnership, based on a social–ecological framework, addressed pediatric obesity by implementing a multilevel intervention for underserved families in Los Angeles, California. Individual- and interpersonal-level outcomes included significant positive changes in preschoolers’ identification of unhealthy foods and in parents’ shopping, cooking, and parenting behaviors. Organizational-, community-, and policy-level outcomes incl…
Commentary: Does the Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic Call for a New Model of Older People Care
Neighborhood Environments, SNAP-Ed Eligibility, and Health Behaviors: An Analysis of the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS)
Understanding the Neuroscience Underpinnings of Obesity and Depression: Implications for Policy Development and Public Health Practice
OPINION article Front. Public Health, 20 August 2021 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.714236
What Are the Relationships between Psychosocial Community Characteristics and Dietary Behaviors in a Racially/Ethnically Diverse Urban Population in Los Angeles County
To address existing gaps in public health practice, we used data from a 2014 internet panel survey of 954 Los Angeles County adults to investigate the relationships between psychosocial community characteristics (PCCs) and two key chronic disease-related dietary behaviors: fruit and vegetable (F+V) and soda consumption. Negative binomial regression models estimated the associations between 'neighborhood risks and resources' and 'sense of communit…
Clinic- and Community-Based National Diabetes Prevention Programs in Los Angeles
Clinics and community-based organizations (CBOs) are priority settings for implementing the evidence-based National Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP). Both program settings present theoretical advantages and disadvantages for engaging and helping populations most at risk for diabetes achieve lifestyle change goals. To date, few studies have compared implementation across them. The present study describes participant characteristics and lifestyle …
Impact of Covid-19 by Pandemic Wave among Patients with Gastroenterology Symptoms in the Emergency Departments at a Medical Center in Taiwan
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected emergency department (ED) usage. This study examines changes in the number of ED visits for gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding and nonemergency GI conditions, such as acute gastroenteritis (AGE) and constipation, before the pandemic and at the peak and slack periods of the pandemic in Taiwan. This retrospective observational study was conducted at a referral medical center in northern Taiwan. We recorded the number …
Medicine (24 works) · Environmental health (17 works) · Gerontology (16 works) · Psychology (14 works) · Demography (11 works) · Nursing (11 works) · Public health (11 works) · Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet (10 works) · Sociology (10 works) · Business (9 works)