Approved Research

Increasing the value of evidence from nutritional epidemiology

Lay summary

The best type of research is when people are randomly assigned to groups, but it's not always possible to do this when studying the effects of long-term diets on health. So, researchers use observational studies instead. But there are challenges in this kind of research that can lead to contradictory findings. These challenges have to do with how the data were collected and analyzed. Improvements have been made in how data is collected, but there has been limited progress in analyzing dietary data. This is because there are many factors that can affect how a diet affects health.

In this study, we will test and improve dietary data analysis methods using simulation and real data. The goal is to make it easier for researchers to generate reliable evidence in the field of nutrition. We will also develop guidelines and resources for other researchers to use on how to conduct robust data analysis in the field of nutritional epidemiology. Improving how we analyze dietary data is important for making sure that the evidence we have about nutrition is reliable and useful.