Comments on: False balance: the distortion of nutrition science by the media

By: Jenny

Jenny — Mon, 02 Feb 2015 01:49:33 +0000

Now I avoid soy (because I am allergic) but it certainly seems to be the plant of choice for genetic modification. And whilst I agree that the jury is still out with regard to GMs long term effects there appears to be sufficient studies that indicate that some concern is warranted, one example: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15718213

By: Jenny

Jenny — Mon, 02 Feb 2015 01:25:23 +0000

Hi Bill, like you I too am excited about the drop in sugar consumption in Australia, although I think it needs to drop significantly more and I think we need to look at changing sugar consumption for the last 100 years not the last 10 years. You are right it is easier to find American data than Australian data, but I thought this was interesting: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25439182 and shows that way too many teenagers are eating what I would consider poor quality food.

By: Bill Shrapnel

Bill Shrapnel — Wed, 28 Jan 2015 20:27:03 +0000

Where to start? As always, with the facts.
You express concern about the amount of processed food consumed but what is the relationship between food processing and health? What’s the nature of your concern and the evidence to support it? Are all the baked goods in the supermarket today any worse for us than the biscuits, cakes and pastries that my mother used to bake up at home in the 1950s?
Some good references on how genetic modification has affected health would be a good start to that discussion.
And some good references on how food additives have affected health would be a good start to that particular discussion.
Increase in sugar consumption? What increase in sugar consumption? All lines of evidence indicate per capita consumption of sugar in Australia is falling. We are not Americans. In fact, sugar consumption in the US appears to have been falling for over a decade.
What decrease in fibre? Again, we are not Americans – our fibre consumption is double that of the US.
Let’s not address imagined problems. Regards, Bill

By: Jenny

Jenny — Tue, 27 Jan 2015 06:00:14 +0000

I’m not really even sure where to start on this Bill!! Amount of processed food consumed! Amount of genetic modification! Amount of additives! Increase in sugar consumption! Decrease in fibre consumed! (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15113714)

By: Bill Shrapnel

Bill Shrapnel — Mon, 26 Jan 2015 22:16:06 +0000

Hi Jenny. ‘Variety, balance, moderation’ were not my words – they were the concepts promoted by the Australian Nutrition Foundation from about 1980. I took moderation to mean ‘in a moderate manner’ and I still think it’s a useful concept, whether it be applied to people currently stuffing themselves with poor quality food or to those who take an obsessive approach to healthy eating.

I get the impression that you think the quality of diets today is worse than it was in years gone by. What do you base this on? Regards, Bill

By: Jenny

Jenny — Mon, 26 Jan 2015 11:37:29 +0000

I really have to take issue with this statement Bill: “Apparently, fundamental concepts of good nutrition such as variety, balance and moderation just aren’t very sexy”! Variety -yes! Balance- yes! Moderation – well maybe in the past but now! No way! There is so much poor quality food in the supermarkets that eating a moderate amount of it is a disaster! Now whilst I am a bit special (Coeliac, allergic to soy and a few other issues) I am finding that more and more people are in a similar boat to me! And the truth is I proudly wear my paleo T-shirts and lend people my various “popular books” and encourage people to eat in a different way (I eat high fat low carb paleo/primal) because I get to be well. I know you think that greed is at the bottom of this but I would suggest it is just lots and lots of people (like me) who used to be sick and are now really well!

By: Paul Rogers

Paul Rogers — Sat, 24 Jan 2015 20:57:23 +0000

Good summary once again, Bill. I still cannot understand how the ABC Science Unit could let the Catalyst thing get by. Let’s hope they learned a lesson.

By: Bill Shrapnel

Bill Shrapnel — Fri, 23 Jan 2015 03:26:33 +0000

Hello Tara. The topic of global warming is frequently mentioned when false balance in the media is being discussed. Regards, Bill

By: Tara, MS, RD

Tara, MS, RD — Thu, 22 Jan 2015 21:44:07 +0000

Insightful post. One of my favorite forms of false balance is the one-on-one debate. Broadcasts and articles can make it appear that the opposing views are split evenly down the middle, when in reality there is an overwhelming consensus among scientific professionals on the topic–such is the case with global warming.

By: Bill Shrapnel

Bill Shrapnel — Thu, 22 Jan 2015 21:17:11 +0000

Hello Julian. I think that’s a slightly different issue – the tendency to jump on bandwagons for profile or profit. It’s certainly prevalent and not just among undergraduates. There is a professor in the obesity field who 20 years ago said all the population needs to do is eat less fat; now the same person says it’s eat less sugar. The intellectual underpinning (for both) was pathetic but ‘experts’ have egos too and public profile is important for some – that’s part of the problem.
There is a real dearth of scientific leadership in nutrition at present. Regards, Bill