Misleading description

Just words

Look out for nutrition intervention effects that are described just using words.

The effect of a nutrition intervention is the change in an outcome caused by the intervention. The size of an intervention effect can be described using numbers. For example, 6 out of 10 people may be better after one week with specific diet “A” and 5 out of 10 people may be better without changing their diet at all (compared to “no intervention”). Then the effect of diet “A” (the difference) is 1 more person out of 10 who will be better with diet “A”.

Words can also be used to describe intervention effects. For example, 1 more person out of 10 might be described as a “small effect”, but someone else may describe it as an “unimportant effect”. Words can be easier to understand than numbers, but they can mean different things to different people.

Also, words can be used to trick people. For example, someone selling a weight loss pill might say that it has “amazing results”, or might describe these pills as “natural”, suggesting that it is good or safe because of that.

REMEMBER: Don’t be tricked by the words that are used to describe nutrition intervention effects. When possible, consider the numbers that describe how big an effect is and not just the words.