Chapter 1, Problem 1ACTQ

Summary Introduction

To explain: The way in which the accuracy or validity of nutrition information can be judged.

Introduction:  Human nutrition refers to the intake of essential nutrients as part of a balanced diet in order to provide support for the continuing human life in a healthy way. In order to balance the nutrients in the diet, it is essential to know about the concentration of various nutrients in each morsel of food and this can be acquired through various sources as nutrition information.

Explanation of Solution

With the advent of information technology and the availability of internet, all through the day, the nutrition information is available for most of the human beings through various sources on their finger tips and thus, this raises the question about their accuracy and validity. It is essential to make sure that the nutrition information that is acquired is faultless and is dependable. Some of the ways in which the human beings can use in the current time in order to check the exactitude of the nutrition information obtained are as follows:

• The individual must mainly use common sense, critical and analytical thinking in order to analyze the obtained nutrition information and not be carried away with hindsight bias.
• The information from research papers are highly peer-reviewed and can be used as the dependable nutrition information.
• The nutrition information can be checked with the Dietary reference intakes (DRI) for accuracy.
• The website credentials must be checked in order to confirm its content authenticity.
• In most of the websites, where it appears to be sensational, or it is given as “this is not a hoax” or the language is emphatic, the individuals must be very cautious about the nutrition information that is given.
• The credibility of the dietician, nutritionists who appear in advertisements, talk shows, and many more must be double-checked before following the nutrition information. They should possess the essential license, which is issued by suitable government bodies, to practice.
• The nutrition information provided by WHO, local health departments, and nutrition science departments in universities and colleges are highly credible.
• The nutrition information can be checked on the websites given in the Table H1-1 “Credible sources of nutrition information” from the textbook.