Reducing sugar—but not calories—in the diets of a small group of children who have obesity led to substantial reductions in heart disease risk factors in only nine days, a new study shows. This brief New York Times Well blog post does a good job explaining these details, including the cautionary information that the study was small and of short duration.
But the cost of brevity is that it fails to offer readers the kinds of methodological and explanatory details that would have helped them judge the relatively cursory nature of the research. Instead, it encourages readers to view the study as part of a growing body of research by referring them to a longer and more detailed 2015 post about a study conducted by some of the same scientists. Alas, a quick look at the methodological details suggests that both studies stem from the same group of child participants. It is not unusual for a single study to generate several research articles. But one could make the argument here that holding such small studies in abeyance and waiting for the bigger picture would serve readers better. Including commentary from an independent expert also would have strengthened the post.
Although we Americans cling desperately to our sugary foods, learning that reducing sugar could markedly improve our health might encourage significant behavior change in this country.
There is a growing–but certainly not conclusive–body of evidence that suggests there might be unique concerns with sugar beyond just its calories, such as being a possible contributor to heart disease.
The brief text reflects only on removing highly sugared foods in the diet of children. Replacement foods used in the study were commonly available at no obvious extra cost.
This short narrative does an admirable job of getting specific about physiological changes that took place in these children over the course of nine days.
However, the story should have established what this means in terms of an outcome that someone cares about. What would be the expected reduction in risk of heart attack or stroke? How big are the changes clinically, and how do they compare with other approaches? It’s probably hard to say since these are children, but then the story should acknowledge that.
The study sought to hold number of calories constant in order to examine the impact of reduced sugar. While many health experts would point out that substituting pizza and bagels does not meet the criteria for an overall healthy diet, that was not a concern of this design.
This was a modest study, with only 37 or 43 (the blog post indicates 37 while a UCSF news release indicates 43) child participants who were tracked over nine days. The reporter does label the effort “small and short-term.”
Calls to reduce sugar in our diets have burgeoned in recent years, and data do seem to suggest that eating less sugar is beneficial. Just how beneficial is still a matter of study.
There are no independent sources–the one person quoted is study coauthor, Dr. Robert Lustig, who has a potential conflict of interest. Lustig wrote a book that’s extremely critical of sugar, and has spoken of fructose as “poison.”
The story makes no mention of other strategies typically employed to reduce markers of heart disease, including other types of dietary changes, exercise and drugs such as statins (which are typically reserved for adults). The UCSF news release did include this type of information.
Bagels and pizza are ubiquitous.
The extent to which the research is novel is left unexplored. The blog post does reference a 2015 post about a research report that, while examining different physiological end points, reaches similar conclusions about sugar as a bad actor.
The UCSF news release provided a lot of information about this study, but the blog post sticks with a short summary of the findings. The one quote in the story appears to be original, and not taken from the news release.
Systematic, Criteria-Driven
Puleeeeease... this 'game changer' weight loss drug causes more nausea and vomiting than a placebo. Some game, some change. My friend Gary would spank you for using the eighth word medical reporters should never, ever use. @garyschwitzer @thackerpd
https://www.healthnewsreview.org/toolkit/just-journalists-writing-tips-case-studies/7-words-and-more-you-shouldnt-use-in-medical-news/ https://twitter.com/OttawaCitizen/status/1361426796126830597
A scary @statnews Op-Ed warns that govt attempts to rein in Pharma may cut off access to "life-changing" drugs.
It takes @garyschwitzer to let us know: the author spent 10 years as Pfizer's public-policy chief. https://twitter.com/garyschwitzer/status/1360325022578053123
.@TranspariMED criticizes STAT op-ed for not disclosing pharma funding of author’s institute - similar to criticism we’ve made of STAT op-eds in the past. @transparify @ThinkTankWatch @icer_review https://www.healthnewsreview.org/2021/02/transparency-watchdog-criticizes-stats-non-disclosure-on-pro-pharma-op-ed/
Comments
Please note, comments are no longer published through this website. All previously made comments are still archived and available for viewing through select posts.
Comments are closed.
Our Comments Policy
But before leaving a comment, please review these notes about our policy.
You are responsible for any comments you leave on this site.
This site is primarily a forum for discussion about the quality (or lack thereof) in journalism or other media messages (advertising, marketing, public relations, medical journals, etc.) It is not intended to be a forum for definitive discussions about medicine or science.
We will delete comments that include personal attacks, unfounded allegations, unverified claims, product pitches, profanity or any from anyone who does not list a full name and a functioning email address. We will also end any thread of repetitive comments. We don”t give medical advice so we won”t respond to questions asking for it.
We don”t have sufficient staffing to contact each commenter who left such a message. If you have a question about why your comment was edited or removed, you can email us at feedback@healthnewsreview.org.
There has been a recent burst of attention to troubles with many comments left on science and science news/communication websites. Read “Online science comments: trolls, trash and treasure.”
The authors of the Retraction Watch comments policy urge commenters:
We”re also concerned about anonymous comments. We ask that all commenters leave their full name and provide an actual email address in case we feel we need to contact them. We may delete any comment left by someone who does not leave their name and a legitimate email address.
And, as noted, product pitches of any sort – pushing treatments, tests, products, procedures, physicians, medical centers, books, websites – are likely to be deleted. We don”t accept advertising on this site and are not going to give it away free.
The ability to leave comments expires after a certain period of time. So you may find that you’re unable to leave a comment on an article that is more than a few months old.
You might also like