Department of Applied Health Science, Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington, Bloomington, Indiana, USA.
Department of Epidemiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Brimingham, Alabama, USA.
Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2023;63(18):3150-3167. doi: 10.1080/10408398.2021.1985427. Epub 2021 Oct 22.
To date, nutritional epidemiology has relied heavily on relatively weak methods including simple observational designs and substandard measurements. Despite low internal validity and other sources of bias, claims of causality are made commonly in this literature. Nutritional epidemiology investigations can be improved through greater scientific rigor and adherence to scientific reporting commensurate with research methods used. Some commentators advocate jettisoning nutritional epidemiology entirely, perhaps believing improvements are impossible. Still others support only normative refinements. But neither abolition nor minor tweaks are appropriate. Nutritional epidemiology, in its present state, offers utility, yet also needs marked, reformational renovation. Changing the status quo will require ongoing, unflinching scrutiny of research questions, practices, and reporting-and a willingness to admit that "good enough" is no longer good enough. As such, a workshop entitled "Toward more rigorous and informative nutritional epidemiology: the rational space between dismissal and defense of the status quo" was held from July 15 to August 14, 2020. This virtual symposium focused on: (1) Stronger Designs, (2) Stronger Measurement, (3) Stronger Analyses, and (4) Stronger Execution and Reporting. Participants from several leading academic institutions explored existing, evolving, and new better practices, tools, and techniques to collaboratively advance specific recommendations for strengthening nutritional epidemiology.
迄今为止，营养流行病学主要依赖于相对薄弱的方法，包括简单的观察性设计和不标准的测量。尽管内部有效性较低，且存在其他来源的偏倚，但该文献中仍常声称具有因果关系。通过提高科学严谨性并遵循与所使用研究方法相称的科学报告，可以改进营养流行病学研究。一些评论家主张完全摒弃营养流行病学，也许是因为他们认为改进是不可能的。还有一些人只支持规范的改进。但废除或小修小补都不合适。营养流行病学目前虽然具有一定的实用性，但也需要进行显著的改革和革新。要改变现状，就需要持续、毫不留情地审查研究问题、实践和报告，并愿意承认“足够好”不再足够好。因此，举办了一场题为“走向更严格和更具信息量的营养流行病学：摒弃和捍卫现状之间的合理空间”的研讨会。该虚拟研讨会的重点是：（1）更强的设计，（2）更强的测量，（3）更强的分析，以及（4）更强的执行和报告。来自几家领先学术机构的参与者探讨了现有的、不断发展的和新的更好的实践、工具和技术，以共同推进强化营养流行病学的具体建议。
