We often caution against “science by press release,” a term for the way mainstream media reports research studies, especially in the areas of exercise and nutrition. Usually, the worst abuses occur in the headline of a story, whether it’s intended to be alarmist or is just a poorly worded summation of a complex topic. The result: It misleads instead of informs.
Take a story reported on HealthDay.com with the headline “Drinking More Common on Exercise Days.” The piece describes a recent study performed by David Conroy of the Center for Behavior and Health at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. Conroy studied 150 men and women for 21 days at a time, at three different times throughout the year, and discovered that between Thursday and Sunday of each week, both physical activity and alcohol consumption surged.
Conroy sounded baffled at the findings. “Perhaps people reward themselves for working out by having more to drink or maybe being physically active leads them to encountering more social situations where alcohol is consumed—we don’t know,” he was quoted in the article.
Let’s help the professor. You see, there’s this phenomenon known as THE WEEKEND. While Conroy acknowledges it exists, he doesn’t seem to connect that more leisure time away from work and school leaves more opportunity for workouts, outdoor sports, parties and trips to the local pub.
To be fair, Conroy didn’t assert a causal link between drinking and exercise as the headline of the article suggests. But most people rarely drill down into the details of a story these days, and this could leave someone worried that exercise is a gateway drug to a fifth-of-vodka-a-day habit.
This is a rather harmless example of the damage that science by press release can do to our common health knowledge. We’re sure Conroy is a capable researcher and academic, but the true worth of a scientific study can be hopelessly lost in bite-sized news reports.
At M&B, we’re determined to cut through the media clutter and correct confusing and misleading health reports. We’re here for you. Except on the weekends. That’s when we’re drunk at the gym.
Jim Schmaltz
Editor in Chief