Promoting cardiovascular health using a recommendation system

Abstract

Lifestyle habits have a direct influence on people’s health. Regular physical activity, combined with good nutrition, helps to prevent the early onset of diseases such as cardiovascular disease. In fact, a significant number of patients diagnosed with cardiovascular disease is associated with a poor diet and a sedentary routine. However, in today’s busy life, it is not always easy to find the motivation for adopting healthy lifestyle habits. Therefore, the existence of a system for recommending healthy meals and workouts can provide the necessary incentive for a healthier life. In this paper, we describe the implementation of a recommendation system following a case-based reasoning approach supported by specific relational databases and ontologies in the field of nutrition and physical activity. The system creates a plan for daily recommendations adapted to the preferences and restrictions of its users, and evaluates the outcome of the recommendations using indexes that quantify cardiovascular health. The success of the recommendations thus depends on a positive evolution of the index after the end of the proposed plan. This system thus presents a new perspective using case-based reasoning and ontologies to propose a diet and exercise plan, evaluating the success of the recommendations objectively through cardiac indexes.