![]() Although use of mass media can bring benefits to academia, responsible dissemination is essential and starts with the press release. Translation of relative risk into population health impact is important and feeds into the need for responsible lay communication of results via mass media, especially regarding assumptions about cause and effect. Although there is evidence that data provided by nutritional epidemiology can be misleading, strong and thoughtful methodology including pre-registration, risk of bias assessment, awareness of confounders, and evidence grading can minimise potential bias, particularly when conducting systematic reviews. Researchers can overcome some of these issues with careful design, awareness of inter-individual variation, open and transparent reporting of findings, and hypothesis-driven statistical analysis to avoid multiple testing errors. However, there are clear limitations, such as conscious and unconscious bias, measurement error, confounding and representativeness of populations. Speakers outlined the benefits of observational studies and how they fit within the suite of research tools available for estimating dietary intakes and determining their impact on health and disease risk. In addition, participants debated media reporting of observational studies and the implications for public perception and trust in science. A Nutrition Society member-led meeting was held online on 18th January 2021 to discuss the role of observational studies in developing public health policy and dietary guidelines.
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