M.S. Applied Data Science - Capstone Chronicles 2025

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interaction effects and ensure a fair, consistent feature set across both configurations. While correlated features may reduce interpretability in

coefficient-based models, this is less concerning here since the emphasis is on prediction rather than inference

Figure 1 Box plots comparing average daily caloric, sugar, fat, and fiber intake between individuals with and without metabolic syndrome. Distributions were broadly similar across groups, suggesting that these dietary variables alone may not strongly distinguish metabolic syndrome status.

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