This is the Weight and Healthcare newsletter! If you like what you are reading, please consider subscribing and/or sharing! If you are looking at a study (or an article about a study) that is making claims about weight, weight loss, and/or health, here are some questions to ask.
I came across some of these dubious "significance" claims in the wild a few weeks ago! They were saying people who completed a certain program to reduce diabetes risk made significant improvements to a range of things, including waist circumference and weight. If you keep reading down the page the significant improvement to waist circumference was a reduction of 1cm and the significant improvement to weight was a reduction of 2kg … If you also read the small print footnote you realise that they evaluated the 1 year long program at the 4 month mark. Things that make you go "Hmmmm…"
I came across some of these dubious "significance" claims in the wild a few weeks ago! They were saying people who completed a certain program to reduce diabetes risk made significant improvements to a range of things, including waist circumference and weight. If you keep reading down the page the significant improvement to waist circumference was a reduction of 1cm and the significant improvement to weight was a reduction of 2kg … If you also read the small print footnote you realise that they evaluated the 1 year long program at the 4 month mark. Things that make you go "Hmmmm…"