Nutrition in the News
Alexandra Amend
Article Summary
Article critique
This article was published in Shape magazine, a popular women's fitness magazine. The study cited in the article was performed by researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) and the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. Their findings were published in PLOS ONE, a "peer-reviewed open access scientific journal published by the Public Library of Science" (Wikipedia, 2015). This initial publication is much more detailed and is much more scientifically accurate than the article published in Shape. The publication details the different ethnicities of the participants, the specific different food sources, and how the "differences in food attributes relevant to metabolic health, such as fiber, sodium or trans-fat content" (Otto, 2015). The publication continues on and explains that the participants that ate a greater variety of food and gained weight "were eating less healthy foods, such as fruits and vegetables, and more unhealthy foods, such as processed meats, desserts and soda" (Otto, 2015).
The article written by Ms. Andersen, though eye-catching, did not accurately portray the information provided by the initial study. Ms. Andersen generalized many of the findings and did not elaborate the reasons behind the findings. The article was well written grammatically and held the reader's interest, but lacked any real scientific findings or explanations. The conclusions were misleading and twisted the actual research in order to "pop out" at readers. In order to find more valid information on this topic, readers should consult the actual scientific paper, which can be found online on PLOS ONE.
Works Cited
- Andersen, C. H. (November 4, 2015). 'Everything in Moderation' May Lead to Weight Gain. Shape. Retrieved from http://www.shape.com/weight-loss/weight-management/everything-moderation-may-lead-weight-gain
- C. Andersen. (2014, September 7). About Me. Retrieved from http://www.thegreatfitnessexperiment.com/about
- Otto, M. C. (October 30, 2015). Everything in Moderation- Dietary Diversity and Quality, Central Obesity and Risk of Diabetes. PLOS ONE, 10 (137). Retrieved from http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0141341
- (n.d.) Retrieved December 2, 2015 from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PLOS_ONE