Dr Keren Papier is a Senior Nutritional Epidemiologist working in the Cancer Epidemiology Unit (CEU), based in the Oxford Department of Population Health, at the University of Oxford. Her research at the CEU includes investigating diet and disease associations using large-scale cohort data (including the Million Women Study, EPIC-Oxford and the UK Biobank). She is also the principal investigator for the Feeding the Future Study (or FEED).
Image: Ksenia Chernaya, Wooden Kitchen Utensils And Vegetables, Pexels, Pexels LicenceImage: Ksenia Chernaya, Wooden Kitchen Utensils And Vegetables, Pexels, Pexels Licence
Researchers at the University of Oxford are looking for as many volunteers as possible to complete an online survey to improve future research on the health impacts of different diets.
How can we know which foods are good for us, and which ones aren’t? To investigate this, researchers use large-scale observational studies that track people over time to see whether certain diets appear to be linked to a higher risk of developing disease. But because UK diets have changed so much over recent years – for instance, with the rise of new plant-based milk and meat alternatives – we have very limited information about what modern diets actually contain. This makes it very difficult to understand why certain diets may be associated with different disease risks.
Studies have shown, for instance, that plant-based diets are associated with a lower risk of heart disease. But these diets can be interpreted very differently in real life; some vegetarians and vegans may eat many nutritious foods such as wholegrains, fruits, vegetables, and pulses, whilst others may solely eat white pasta, tomato sauce, white bread with margarine, and crisps.
To address this, my colleagues and I have launched a new study called Feeding the Future (FEED), which aims to generate an up-to date picture of what UK adults following different diets are actually eating. We are looking for as many UK residents as possible to complete a short, one-off survey about the foods they eat, and why. We hope the results will increase our understanding of how disease risks may vary for different diets, and inform future research and dietary recommendations.
Whether you are a carnivore, vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian or flexitarian, we would really like to hear from you. By taking the survey, you can help contribute to important research, without even leaving your home.
The short survey (no more than 20 minutes) is open to all UK adults over 18 years old and can be found here: https://oxford.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/feeding-the-future-study-feed
You can find out more about the Feeding the Future study here: https://www.ceu.ox.ac.uk/research/feeding-the-future-study-feed
For further information, please contact feedstudy@ndph.ox.ac.uk.
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I wonder if "coincidentally" the study author is a vegan who is using a survey as cover to promote a deeply unhealthy food ideology rather than help finding the truth about what people eat?