Nutritional Studies

In class, we've been reading summaries of various Nutritional Studies that collected data on certain nutrients and their effects on health.

Nutritional Studies (Harvard School of Public Health)

Students must identify the sample size, independent variables (what groups are being tested), and dependent variables (what is being measured) of each study.

For example, in the study about Red Meat Protein and Heart Disease, over 500,000 older men and women were studied. The groups compared were heavy red meat eaters, heavy processed meat eaters, and low meat eaters. It was found that in men, heavily eating red meat increased the risk of dying by 31% and heavily eating processed meat increased the risk of dying by 16% compared to the low meat eating group. In women, the increases in risk of dying were 50% and 25% respectively (http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20090323/eating-red-meat-may-boost-death-risk).