Eat less, live longer?

Does the story adequately quantify the benefits of the treatment/test/product/procedure?

Not Satisfactory

 This story failed to mention that the difference in overall mortality between the groups was not statistically significant.  Only the difference in age-related deaths were significant, although this was not reported either.

 According to the research, 37% of the control group died of age-related causes versus 13% of the calorie restriction group.  Overall, 55% of the control monkeys died versus 37% of the calorie restricted group.  Judging by the numbers given in the story, the reporter did not read beyond the abstract of the published study.
 

Does the story adequately explain/quantify the harms of the intervention?

Not Satisfactory

 This story did not stress that calories should be restricted without malnutrition.  It also failed to discuss the real health risks associated with extreme calorie restriction or how to calculate the optimal caloric intake for individuals. 

Does the story seem to grasp the quality of the evidence?

Not Satisfactory

While the research is compelling, it also has many flaws which the news story failed to point out.  For example, this is a relatively small study with only 38 monkeys in each group.  The research article also does not include the average number of calories each group is consuming, only that the calorie-restricted group is eating 30% less than baseline.  The segment claimed the control group ate a “normal diet,” but no definition of a “normal diet” is provided. Furthermore, the story failed to include the caveat that results from animal studies do not necessary translate to humans.
 

Does the story use independent sources and identify conflicts of interest?

Not Satisfactory

 The story includes commentary from one of the study’s authors, as well as from an author of a book on calorie restriction, although hers is hardly an unbiased opinion.  Commentary from a nutritionist or other expert in the field would have added value to the story.

It would also not have been difficult to find a critic of the study’s conclusions, as the New York Times easily did when it reported:

 “Ultimately the results seem pretty inconclusive at this point,” (Dr. Steven Austad, an expert on aging at the University of Texas Health Science Center) said. “I don’t know why they didn’t wait longer to publish.”

Leonard Guarente, a biologist who studies aging at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, also had reservations about the findings. “The survival data needs to be fleshed out a little bit more before we can say that caloric restriction extends life in primates,” Dr. Guarente said.

This was perhaps the biggest failing of the story, since involvement of almost any other independent expert source would have made the piece much smarter.  

Does the story compare the new approach with existing alternatives?

Not Satisfactory

There was no context given about other calorie-restriction-for-anti-aging research in animals in the past. It’s difficult to get beyond this:  if you don’t emphasize the history of and the limitations of animal research on network TV, you are probably misleading most of your audience. 

Does the story establish the true novelty of the approach?

Not Satisfactory

Studies investigating calorie restriction as an anti-aging answer are not novel, but the story didn’t make this clear.  There’s a long history that could have at least been acknowledged. Instead, this was called "groundbreaking." What makes a monkey study groundbreaking?  What would be a groundbreaking human study?  Why wear out the dictionary of hyperbole in this way?