Flawed studies don't represent reality
As a nation, we’ve become obsessed with how to fix the obesity epidemic, almost to the point of paranoia. We conduct studies left and right, read new articles about “what magic food will make us thinner” and strive to keep up with new “facts” and “truths” that will ultimately save us from ourselves. But at the end of the day, is it all worth it?
Ironically, according to a new article published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine, a lot of the stuff that we think will help us in our sometimes insane quest for health isn’t really solving the problem. In fact, a lot of the stuff that people tend to repeat ad nauseam — like eating breakfast makes you thinner — are either not based on reality or reflect flawed studies that don’t represent what happens in the real world.
And sadly, this is a problem not only found in the general population, but in the scientific world as well. If scientists, many of whom continue to believe such rumors themselves, can’t get it right, how does your average Joe even stand a chance?
It’s for this reason that we haven’t been able to fully fight this obesity battle head-on. As long as we believe these myths, that by its very definition are unfounded and possibly untrue, we will never get anywhere. Real change, both in policy and personally, are based on cold, hard facts. Until we strictly rely on facts rather than things that “could possibly be true,” we should expect to fight a losing battle.
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