First Position Paper from the Academy Published in the British Journal of Nutrition

This paper is the first report in a series of three from the Academy of Nutrition Sciences. This position paper was developed in 2020 by a working group led by Professor Christine Williams, Emeritus Professor of Human Nutrition at the University of Reading, and trustee of the Academy. The paper deals with the approach of expert groups to investigate the links between diet and non-communicable diseases and addresses some of the challenges in the current evidence-base.

The trustees of the Academy agree that action is required to reduce levels of misinformation about nutrition and health, to improve understanding of how evidence in nutrition is scrutinised to avoid bias and the way in which the totality of the evidence is evaluated to formulate dietary recommendations. 

 A series of position papers will be published to consider the nature of the evidence base in specific areas of nutrition and health. The first of these, which has recently been published (Williams et al. 2020), addresses the evidence base underpinning dietary advice for populations for the prevention of non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer. 

The position paper summarises the nature of the evidence base and the systematic processes used by expert panels to ensure that rigour, relevance and consistency are brought to their conclusions. It also addresses some of the challenges inherent in studying diet-disease relationships and lessons learned over the past 45 years of evidence-based policy-making in dietary prevention of non-communicable diseases.

 Complementary editorials have been published in Nutrition Bulletin https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nbu.12480 and the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, which place the findings of the position paper in context.

 Williams, C., Ashwell, M., Prentice, A., Hickson, M., & Stanner, S. (2020). Nature of the evidence base and frameworks underpinning dietary recommendations for prevention of non-communicable diseases: A position paper from the Academy of Nutrition Sciences. British Journal of Nutrition, 1-30.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0007114520005000

 February 1, 2021