Article Analysis Essay on Public Health Nutrition

Introduction

The article Associations Of Fats And Carbohydrate Intake With Cardiovascular Disease and Mortality in 18 Countries From Five Continents (PURE): A Prospective Cohort Study addresses the relationship between macronutrients, cardiovascular disease, and mortality. The study was conducted by Dehghan et al., in 2017 and was published online in the lancet.com. The study addresses the controversial issue that exists concerning the relationship between macronutrients and the developing cardiovascular disease and mortality. Additionally, the article was published in the lancet which is a reputable website containing peer-reviewed sources.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Contribution to Knowledge, Theory, and Practice

According to the authors, most of the data available focuses on populaces in Europe and North America. The two regions have a high likelihood of experiencing nutrition excess. Therefore, the conclusions drawn by the available data could be untrue for other areas. The article adds to the existing knowledge on the association of fats and carbohydrates intake with cardiovascular disease and mortality. They provide a counter-argument which does not support the current recommendations to limit the fat intake (Cowburn, & Stockley, 2005 p.26). According to the authors, individuals with a high intake of carbohydrates are likely to benefit from a reduction in the absorption of carbohydrates and an increase in the consumption of fats (Dehghan et al., 2017 p.2064). The article, therefore, sheds light on the need for extensive research to be conducted on the topic and guide nutrition intake among individuals. A nutritionist can borrow from the study and use the information in their practice through a consideration of the factors presented by the article (Mente et al., 2017 p.780).

Research Design and Methodology

The research applied a design method that is referred to as PURE study. The study aimed at collecting data from other sources. The study was a large epidemiological study in urban and rural areas in 18 countries. A large number of respondents were used in the collection of data relevant to the investigation. Questionnaires were used in the collection of primary pertinent data for the study. The methods used in the selection of the data are useful in providing findings that are credible and viable (Hooper et al., 2001 p.759). The authors aimed at including populations which had different socioeconomic factors as the focus of the research study (Sacks et al., 2017 p. 21). The collection of the data was collected at the individual, community and household levels. The method used in the selection of the data was useful as it ensured the information gathered was substantial and increased the effectiveness of the research (Reddy 2002 p.35).

Additionally, the authors used effective sampling methods by ensuring bias was avoided in the selection of households. The questionnaires used in the collection of the data were standardized for all the respondents. Therefore, they provided the viability of information and made the analysis of the data easier since data on the same factors were collected and analyzed (Hamley, 2017 p.30). The researches ensured they used food frequency questionnaires and nutrient databases that were country-specific. The country-specific method provided the data collected could be standardized and was also viable for the study.

Presentation of Findings and Interpretation

The data collected during the research was then analyzed to come up with the specific findings presented by the authors. Statistical analysis was conducted where the various responses in the questionnaire were assigned values, making the data easy to analyze and interpret. The findings were presented in the form of tables which are easy to understand and evaluate (Bazzano et al. 2002 p.96). The analyzed data was introduced in the form of tables and percentages. Biases could, however, exist in the responses given by the respondents. Most individuals especially in low-income countries are not aware of their nutrient intakes and would, therefore, need to be guided or have to guess the exact value of the inputs. Each of the findings presented by the data is adequately explained and submitted to the audience.

Conclusions

According to the study conducted from the 18 countries, the findings displayed that the leading cause of most non-cardiovascular diseases mortality is consumption of foods with high carbohydrates while intake of high fats caused low death and non-cardiovascular diseases as well as stroke (Dehghan et al., 2017 p.2062). The conclusion drawn by the authors are viable since they are based on the statistics from the study. The article does not support the existing research which recommends limiting the entire fat consumption to a minimum of thirty percent and less 10 percent of energy. It goes ahead to suggest that people with high carbohydrate intake may benefit by taking less of the carbohydrates and increase fat consumption (Caraher & Cowburn 2005 p. 1247). The conclusion drawn by the authors is based on the research findings. The evidence presented by the results warrants the conclusion that was provided by the authors. Therefore, the article effectively addresses the research question and offers conclusions that are supported by evidence. Based on the research findings the suggestion made in the discussion are effective.

Additionally, the article draws on existing information on dietary guidelines and uses evidence to develop countermeasures (Wang et al., 2016 1139). For instance, the authors state that nutritional guidelines that have been in existence for decades have focused on the reduction of total fat intake. However, the researchers point to the fact that the focus of the guidelines is based on a particular emphasis on observational and clinical data. Previous research on the topic has therefore avoided focusing on various items and thus drawing a conclusion that can be disputed. Therefore, the article is informative and useful in addressing the research question and providing conclusions that are based on evidence.

List of References

Bazzano, L. A., He, J., Ogden, L. G., Loria, C. M., Vupputuri, S., Myers, L., & Whelton, P. K. 2002. Fruit and vegetable intake and risk of cardiovascular disease in US adults: the first National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Epidemiologic Follow-up Study. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 76(1), 93-99.

Caraher, M., & Cowburn, G. 2005. Taxing food: implications for public health nutrition. Public health nutrition, 8(8), 1242-1249.

Cowburn, G., & Stockley, L. 2005. Consumer understanding and use of nutrition labeling: a systematic review. Public health nutrition, 8(1), 21-28.

Dehghan, M., Mente, A., Zhang, X., Swaminathan, S., Li, W., Mohan, V., & Amma, L. I. 2017. Associations of fats and carbohydrate intake with cardiovascular disease and mortality in 18 countries from five continents (PURE): a prospective cohort study. The Lancet, 390(10107), 2050-2062.

Hamley, S. 2017. The effect of replacing saturated fat with mostly n-6 polyunsaturated fat on coronary heart disease: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Nutrition Journal, 16(1), 30.

Hooper, L., Summerbell, C. D., Higgins, J. P., Thompson, R. L., Capps, N. E., Smith, G. D., & Ebrahim, S. 2001. Dietary fat intake and prevention of cardiovascular disease: a systematic review. Bmj, 322(7289), 757-763.

Mente, A., Dehghan, M., Rangarajan, S., McQueen, M., Dagenais, G., Wielgosz, A., ... & Wang, Y. 2017. Association of dietary nutrients with blood lipids and blood pressure in 18 countries: a cross-sectional analysis from the PURE study. The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, 5(10), 774-787.

Reddy, K. S. 2002. Cardiovascular diseases in the developing countries: dimensions, determinants, dynamics and directions for public health action. Public health nutrition, 5(1a), 231-237.

Sacks, F. M., Lichtenstein, A. H., Wu, J. H., Appel, L. J., Creager, M. A., Kris-Etherton, P. M., ... & Stone, N. J. 2017. Dietary fats and cardiovascular disease: a presidential advisory from the American Heart Association. Circulation, 136(3), e1-e23.

Wang, D. D., Li, Y., Chiuve, S. E., Stampfer, M. J., Manson, J. E., Rimm, E. B., ... & Hu, F. B. 2016. Association of specific dietary fats with total and cause-specific mortality. JAMA internal medicine, 176(8), 1134-1145.