Chapter 2

A website that is authored or sponsored by one person tends to provide ___________ information.

Biases

Which of the following are the major professional divisions for registered dietitians?

Clinical dietetics Food service systems management Community nutrition

Consumers can rely upon the advice of a professional who bears the legally protected title "nutritionalist". (T or F)

False

Nutritionalists have the same educational backgrounds and professional certification as registered dietitian nutritionalists. (T or F)

False

Popular health-related magazines typically publish articles that have been peer-reviewed. (T or F)

False

A true nutrition expert:

Is usually a registered dietitian. Has experience in the application of scientific methodology. Has extensive college coursework in nutrition, food science, and chemistry.

The RD credential indicates that the person

Participates in continuing education. Has completed rigorous classroom work in nutrition. Has completed rigorous clinical training in nutrition.

Consumers need to be skeptical of nutrition and health-related claims because

Promoters of worthless nutrition products are good marketers The FDA cannot prevent the spread of published misinformation Nutrition misinformation can be spread through a variety of sources

Major nutrition organizations put together a list of red flags that signal poor nutrition advice.

Recommendations that promise a quick fix Claims that sound too good to be true Recommendations based on a single study Scare tactics Attacks on conventional scientists and nutrition experts Testimonials and anecdotes Promotes benefits while overlooking risks Vague, meaningless, or scientific-sounding terms Vague sources Pseudoscience Disclaimers

Which of the following occurs after completion of an experiment

Scientists figure out if the findings support or disprove the hypothesis. Scientists seek to publish the results in scientific journals. Scientists summarize the findings.

Reliable information on the internet can be found by doing which of the following things?

Search sites that are managed by qualified health professionals.

A placebo is a sham treatment that does not provide measurable physical effects. (T or F)

True

By conducting a prospective epidemiological study, medical researchers can determine risk factors that may influence health. (T or F)

True

Which of the following questions should be asked when evaluating nutrition information?

Who sponsored the research? Is the information from an article in a peer-reviewed journal? Are the authors trying to sell me something?

Anecdotes

a report of personal experiences

Observational epidemiological research includes

case-control studies cohort studies

Observational epidemiological studies cannot establish

causation

A ____ is a relationship between two variables

correlation

A physician named Joseph Goldberger discovered that the disease pellagra was related to

diet.

What type of research is conducted when an investigator measures the frequency of diabetes in different populations?

epidemiological

Diets that lack proper nutrition can lead the the development of

nutrient deficiency diseases.

Testimonial

personal endorsement of a product

Saying that a company is hiding information about a cure that will help you is an example of a ____________ .

scare tactic

Epidemiologists often rely on _____ people to obtain health data.

surveys of physical examinations of

a control group is important

to the validity and accuracy of an experiment enables scientists to control the influence of control variables unrelated to the study allows scientists to determines if a treatment had an effect

A ___________ is a factor such as a person's age, weight, or environment that can change and influence an outcome.

variable

Which of the following are suggestions to help consumers make healthful and logical nutrition decisions?

-Apply healthy nutrition practices to confirm or disprove claim -Read product labels carefully -Examine the scientific credentials of the individual or company making a claim -Avoid practitioners who prescribe unnecessary megadoses of nutrients

The Food and Drug Administration regulates nutritional information in books and other forms of media. (T or F)

False

The FTC enforces consumer protection laws and investigates complaints about false or misleading health claims that appear on the internet. The letters FTC stand for:

Federal Trade Commission

Which of the following will assist consumers in identifying sources of credible nutrition information?

Reading peer-reviewed journals Looking for references to research articles

Researchers use findings from the ____ to establish national standards or assessing height, weight, and blood pressure.

NHANES

Who are the subjects in a case-control study?

Person(s) with the disease or condition under investigation. Person(s) without the disease or condition under investigation.

Nutrient deficiency diseases are a result of

Poor diets Lack of proper nutrition

________ is the credential that flags a health professional as the most accurate and reliable source of up-to-date nutrition advice.

RD

Pseudoscience

presentation of information masquerading as factual and obtained by scientific methods