Not so simple

Re: “Simple solution to obesity”, (Letters, April 8).

Eric Bahrt refers to “The China Study” and wonders “why does the media keep complicating the problem when the solution is so simple?”

Apparently Eric is oblivious to the statistical analysis of large data sets. The science which led to the book, “The China Study”, was conducted between 1973 and 1986 and the book was first published in 2005.

Since that time much valid criticism of both data analysis and bias found in the book has arisen and is readily available online.

It turns out that this famous quote from the Campbell book: “People who ate the most animal-based foods got the most chronic disease.

Even relatively small intakes of animalbased food were associated with adverse effects.

People who ate the most plant-based foods were the healthiest and tended to avoid chronic disease” is simply not supported by the data and is therefore a clear example of bias.

Nutritional science and analysis has come a very long way since 1986, thus the media supported controversy Mr Bahrt refers to is a rare example of responsible journalism in this instance. While I am a supporter of a mostly plant-based diet for ethical reasons, the science is certainly not definitive as Mr Bahrt would suggest.

MICHAEL SETTER