Research is the collection of information and facts through investigation or examination of a topic of interest.
New research Nutrition and dietetics play a vital role in deepening our understanding of health, disease prevention and management.
For example, nutrition and eating habits are linked to the development of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), such as Type 2 diabetes And cardiac diseaseespecially among the
Data obtained through nutrition research provides scientific evidence that informs the public
However, a predominance of laboratory and animal studies and a few research studies examining human dietary habits highlight the fact that gaps in nutrition research.
More funded human research is needed to deepen the scientific understanding and evidence of the role of foods and dietary supplements in health outcomes, dosages, and intervention periods.
Different types of nutrition research yield different results, leading to a range of scientific conclusions.
Observational studies, such as
These observational studies – namely cohort and case-control studies – can only highlight associations between foods and health effects and cannot definitively determine the cause of the health effect.
For example, excessive consumption of sugar has
However, experimental studies implement specific nutritional interventions that allow scientists to establish a cause-and-effect relationship between foods and health outcomes.
For example, researchers have shown that
Despite the vital role of nutrition in public health, research on this topic remains an underfunded and controversial area.
Industry financing
Nutrition is one of the few disciplines directly related to marketing product.
In fact, a 2016 review of nearly 200 published studies found that the source of funding was directly related to the conclusions of the study.
This meant that industry-funded studies doesn’t show unfavorable results. However, approximately 40% non-industry-funded studies have found unfavorable product results.
Funding agencies each have focus areas that dictate which research projects are eligible for their financial support. Some companies even fund studies to build a pool of scientific evidence that also serves as a marketing strategy.
Even if some companies have engaged responsibly in research, others could
This is illustrated by the financing of
Ethical considerations and financing
The success of a research study often relies on external funding, such as
Although it is possible to conduct smaller scientific studies without external funding, reliable, high-quality nutritional research often requires larger, well-designed, and well-funded studies.
Although public funding of organizations such as
The reliance on private funding may occur due to limited public funding for nutrition research. A
This means that regulating the
Stopping private funding would not only reduce research in important areas of nutrition, but could also lead to the loss of the skill advisory groups.
In
They discussed
- Objective research: Funded research must be transparent, follow defined principles of scientific research and must not favor any particular outcome.
- Control of research: The study design and results must remain the property of the scientific researchers and not be held privately by the funding agency.
- Payment for results: No study participant should offer or accept payments to further research results.
- Full Disclosure: All persons involved in the study must declare their financial interests, paid authorship, and affiliations.
In an ideal context, nutrition research should inform public policies and serve as a basis for the adoption of bills by the government, such as the Gluten in Medicines Disclosure Act, 2021 in the USA
However, the political threat means that Congressional intercession can ignore even the most scientifically sound nutritional research.
A well-known example of this occurred when Senator William Proxmire introduced the vitamin bill in the mid-1970s, despite calls from many health organizations, including the National Nutrition Consortium, the American Dietetic Association and the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers’ Association.
This bill stop the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate the potency and number of ingredients in vitamin supplements.
The FDA, however, can regulate marketing claims made by supplements.
Nutrition research is one of the few scientific disciplines related to product marketing and is subject to conflicts of interest in lobbying and non-disclosure.
It is also a relatively underserved and underfunded science, with many private sponsors and grants geared toward topics of commercial benefit to the funding agency.
Despite these ethical challenges, there is a need for more funding for research into human nutrition and dietary habits.
There is a delicate balance between regulating private sources of funding and transparent, evidence-based research. However, ASN and other regulatory bodies have developed principles to protect the scientific rigor and credibility of nutrition research.
