WHAT’S IN A HEADLINE? Louise Robertson Specialist Dietitian Louise is an experienced NHS dietitian who has been specialising in the fascinating area of Inherited Metabolic Disorders in adults for the last 10 years. In her spare time she enjoys running her blog Dietitian's Life with her colleague and good friend Sarah, playing the cello and keeping up with her two little girls! www. dietitianslife.com
References 1 www.therooted project.co.uk/ 2 https://dietetically speaking.com/ 3 Fiolet Thibault, Srour Bernard, Sellem Laury, Kesse-Guyot Emmanuelle, Allès Benjamin, Méjean Caroline et al. Consumption of ultra-processed foods and cancer risk: results from NutriNet-Santé prospective cohort BMJ 2018; 360 :k322
Nutrition stories have been getting plenty of airtime in the last few months, but not always for the right reasons. If we believe the newspaper headlines, then we all need to be on a diet (Britain needs to go on a diet - BBC news 6th March), but what diet should we be on? A low-carb or low-fat diet (Low carb diets no better than traditional focus on fat - The Telegraph 20th Feb 2018)? And we definitely shouldn’t be eating ANY processed foods, otherwise we will die of cancer (Processed foods are driving up rates of cancer - The Daily Mail 14th Feb 2018). Every time I see a sensational nutrition headline like those above, it makes me wince. I get it: the press want their stories to be read and more papers to be sold, but they are confusing the public. Wouldn’t it be great if nutritional professionals wrote these stories, getting the angle right and portraying the right messages? But this is unlikely to happen; so, we are trying to counteract these headlines with some myth busting on social media! Some great myth busters include dietitians Helen and Rosie from The Rooted Project1 and Maeve from Dietetically Speaking2 (follow them on Instagram and Facebook). Their skill is translating a scientific paper into easily understood information for the public on social media platforms. The Rooted Project’s graphics are eye-catching and recognisable. The Ultra-processed foods linked to cancer news story made great shocking headlines, the newspapers’ main messages being, ‘eating processed foods significantly raises the risk of cancer’ and ‘that sugary cereals and fizzy drinks are dangerous’. Scary stuff! They reported on the ‘processed’ foods that put you at risk, including breakfast cereals, bread, chocolate and biscuits.
Yes, fewer biscuits and chocolate may do you good, but cutting out bread and cereal could potentially reduce fibre intake which in turn could cause an increased risk of cancer and heart disease from inadequate fibre intake. The Rooted Project looked at the scientific paper3 from which the story came from. The link between processed foods and risk of cancer was actually only a weak one and the study couldn’t differentiate between other health behaviours which are known to be linked to cancer (smoking and physical activity). The main messages that The Rooted Project took from the paper were: 1 This study does not mean that eating ultra-processed foods will give you cancer. 2 The term processed does not always make it unhealthy. 3 The best way to reduce your risk of cancer is a varied diet, keeping active, avoiding smoking and keeping alcohol intake low. 4 Don’t panic if you consume some foods in your diet which are ultraprocessed. Two totally different messages taken from the same scientific paper - how did that happen? It makes me wonder if the health correspondents have any training in interpreting scientific papers at all. I know which message I will be listening to, but sadly most of the public will be taking what the papers say as read. As nutritional professionals, we need to keep on myth-busting on social media and getting involved with the media to try and bring some realism to these nutrition stories. www.NHDmag.com April 2018 - Issue 133
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NEW This material is for healthcare professionals only.
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Nutramigen with LGG® is a food for special medical purposes for the dietary management of cow’s milk allergy and must be used under medical supervision. Nutramigen with LGG® is not recommended for premature and immunocompromised infants unless directed and supervised by a healthcare professional. IMPORTANT NOTICE: Breastfeeding provides the best nutrition for babies. *Trademark of Mead Johnson & Company, LLC. © 2018 Mead Johnson & Company, LLC. All rights reserved. LGG® and the LGG® logo are registered trademarks of Valio Ltd, Finland. Date of preparation: February 2018 UK/NUT/18/0026