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t_Articles
With the explosion of information in cyberspace, more
and more people are relying on the Internet for nutrition information
and advice. It is fast and easy, mostly free of charge and accessible
any time of day. Just use any popular search engine and it will come up
with more food and nutrition sites than you can possibly read.
How can we manage the sheer volume of information? Or
sieve the trash from the treasure? Just because something is printed on
the Internet, does not mean it is true or credible.
Buyer Beware!
While there is a lot of good information on the Net,
the ease of web publishing has provided a forum to unreliable sources as
well. Careful scrutiny and a healthy dose of scepticism are necessary to
decipher fact from fiction.
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"Ten Red Flags of Junk Science".
Be
careful if the information contains:
-
Recommendations
that promise a quick fix.
- Dire warnings of danger from a single product or regimen.
- Claims that sound too good to be true.
- Simplistic conclusions drawn from a complex study.
- Recommendations based on a single study.
- Dramatic statements that are refuted by reputable scientific
organisations.
- Lists of "good" and "bad" foods.
- Recommendations made to help sell a product.
- Recommendations based on studies published without peer
review.
- Recommendations from studies that ignore differences among
individuals or groups.
Reference: The Food and Nutrition Science
Alliance |
Too Much Information, Too Little Time
It is time-consuming, if not impossible, to look
through every nutrition- related site found by a search engine, A
reputable site which has filtered and categorised other sites may be a
better starting point for your search.
The Tufts University Nutrition Navigator (http://navigator.tufts.edu/)
is invaluable. Its sole purpose is to review and rate nutrition-related
sites. There are many sites on the Internet that list nutrition
resources, but few are as comprehensive.
The Arbor Nutrition Guide (http://arborcom.com/)
boasts some 3,000 entries in its list of nutrition resources. A short
description is provided for each site, but a list of this size can be
quite overwhelming. Arbor also maintains a treasury of scientific
information, but it can be too technical for the uninitiated. As its
publisher aptly states, this site is meant for "qualified health
professionals only."
Different Strokes for Different Folks
New websites are continually cropping up, while old
ones are constantly reinventing themselves. Below are some categories of
sites which may be useful.
The Pillars of Knowledge
Major universities or medical centres are usually a
good bet for reliable information.
- Mayo Health Oasis
http://www.mayohealth.org/ -
The
world-renowned Mayo Clinic (USA) is responsible for the comprehensive
health information in this site. This site is uncluttered and easy to
read, with well-placed hyperlinks to related topics. Questions can
also be posted to their doctors and dietitians and will be answered
on-line.
- John Hopkins Health Information
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/healthinformation/html -
Another
health resource from a prominent medical centre in the United States.
This consumer oriented site contains a comprehensive list of nutrition
topics, as well as an "Ask the Doc" feature. A link to the massive
USDA database of food composition is a special bonus. Interactive
features add fun and games.
- Health ONE
http://www.healthonecares.com
-
Developed
and maintained by the National University of Singapore, this is a
general health information site in English, Chinese and Malay.
The Official Word
Government health agency sites are generally
reliable. They are good places to look for official guidelines and
regulations, health statistics, policies and services for specific
countries.
- Healthfinder
http://www.healthfinder.gov
- Do your
one-stop shopping here for literally all health-related information
published by the US government.
- World Health Organization
http://www.who.int/ -
Look here
for official documents and statistics on global nutrition issues.
- Division of Human Nutrition, Institute of Medical Research,
Ministry of Health, Malaysia
http://imr.gov.my/nutri.htm
-
This group
is responsible for publishing Malaysia's food composition table.
- Department of Health, Hong Kong, SAR
http://www.info.gov.hk/dh
- Ministry of Health, Indonesia
http://www.depkes.go.id/ENGLISH/
- Ministry of Health, Malaysia
http://dph.gov.my/
- Ministry of Health, Singapore
http://app.moh.gov.sg/
- Department of Health, Taiwan, Republic of China
http://www.doh.gov.tw/ -
These
regional health departments all provide health statistics, guidelines
and regulations for their countries.
Just the Facts
The main purpose of these non-government, non-profit
organisations is to provide accurate nutrition information.
- Asian Food Information Centre (AFIC)
http://www.afic.org -
AFIC's
mission is to inform the media, health professionals, educators and
government officials on food safety and nutrition issues. It is based
in Singapore and covers the entire Asian region.
- International Food Information Council (IFIC)
http://www.ific.org
- IFIC is a similar organisation to AFIC, based in the US. This
website contains a host of science based information on general
nutrition and food safety.
- European Food Information Council (EUFIC)
http://www.eufic.org
- EUFIC
is a similar organisation to AFIC and IFIC and is based in Europe.
- Australian Nutrition Foundation
http://www.nutritionaustralia.org
- This is another reliable source of nutrition information, with lots
of fact sheets, position papers and other publications.
Sites with a Mission
These sites are dedicated to promoting awareness of a
specific issue or disease condition.
- American Heart Association
http://www.americanheart.org/
- In addition to information and statistics on cardiovascular disease,
this site includes news updates on nutrition and other health topics.
- OncoLink
http://www.oncolink.upenn.edu -
Developed by the University
of Pennsylvania (USA), this site is devoted to information on cancer.
-
International Diabetes Federation (IDF)
http://www.idf.org/ -
IDF
provides information on diabetes and links to diabetes groups all over
the world.
- Healthy Lifestyle Committee (Singapore)
http://www.healthylife.org.sg/ - This is a site oriented
towards disease prevention with features on fitness, nutrition, stress
management and smoking cessation. It has interactive features and good
links.
The Pros
Nutrition and dietetic associations provide
information on their profession such as educational requirements, career
opportunities, and membership information. Try:
Information on the Internet is expanding
exponentially everyday. As information technology comes of age in this
region, we can expect to sample more Asian "tid-bits" and healthful
"bytes" in the very near future.
Happy
surfing!
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