Soda sadness?

Questionable claims that diet soda can cause depression By Jackie Ho March 10, 2013 Media coverage of a new study has been leading consumers to believe that diet soda may lead to depression. The study came out in January in a press release from the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) with the title, Hold the Diet Soda? Sweetened Drinks Linked to Depression, Coffee Tied to Lower Risk. The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Cancer Institute. There are several reasons to not take the attention-grabbing headlines that followed suit seriously and to not necessarily follow many media outlets implication to stop or start drinking certain beverages. The central reason to take caution is that the study itself holds very little validity, if any, and certainly not enough to be conveyed as a significant finding in the field of health and science reporting. Many articles fail to explain the studys shortcomings and instead misleadingly play up the findings as a valid reason for consumers to stop drinking diet soda. NaturalNews published the article, Diet soda dramatically increases depression risk. The article discusses the studys methodology and quotes only the studys author and lead researcher, who says, Sweetened beverages, coffee and tea are commonly consumed worldwide and have important physical and may have important mental health consequences. US News and World Report came out with the article, Diet Soda Linked to Depression in NIH Study. The article is four paragraphs long and portrays the study to be as simple as its reporting on it. The story says, New research suggests sodas and other sugary drinks especially artificially sweetened ones could be related to depression. It describes the study in two paragraphs and, just like NaturalNews story, ends with a quote from the studys author and lead researcher. Mens Health says the new study shows artificially sweetened beverages can lead to poor health outcomes. It then links to one of their previous articles, The Scary Link Between Soda and Heart Disease, that discusses risks of excessive sugar consumption, which is not the focus of the new study in question. Many articles mention that the study was presented at the AANs Annual Meeting in March. What they articles fail to mention, but is worth pointing out, is that the study was never actually published in a peer-reviewed journal. This lack of publication should tell reporters, who should tell their readers, that this study is not yet accepted as a significant finding in the science or medical communities. Another shortcoming of media coverage is that many articles fail to discuss the risk and benefit groups of the study. Articles about the study lazily conclude that sweetened beverages result in poor health outcomes or have important physical and mental health consequences which are already questionable, vague conclusions without defining what demographic(s) should be concerned

about the studys findings. At the time of enrollment in the study, in 1995, people were between ages 50 and 71. In 2004-2006, the participants were asked whether they had been diagnosed with depression since 2000. This means that the studys participants were anywhere from 55 to 82 when they were diagnosed with depression. Without studying the effects of sweetened beverages on any other demographic, the researchers had no control group to verify whether age had anything to do with diagnoses of depression. Few reporters went beyond what the press release said and failed to provide an explanation of the research system. The claim that sweetened drinks [are] linked to depression and that coffee [is] tied to lower risk, is, essentially, according to the studys participants themselves. It is significant that the subjects were self diagnosed. The press release says, Researchers asked the participants whether they had been diagnosed with depression, but doesnt say by whom. In the AAN 65th Annual Meeting Abstract, however, the studys methods say, Beverage consumptions were assesseddepression diagnoses since 2000 were selfreported in 2004-2006. Taking the numbers into consideration, only 4% of the studys participants had self-reported depression, and without credible clinicians to diagnose the participants depression, the studys findings are rendered dubious and unreliable. Additionally, most reporters fail to link the research to clinical findings. Because the study itself is undeveloped and inconsequential, putting its findings into context of related clinical findings could help readers put the study into perspective and understand how it fits into a larger body of research concerning sweeteners and depression. When reporting on a link between a potential cause and effect, it is significant to explain if there is evidence for causation or if the studys findings simply illustrate a correlation or an unexplainable association; many reporters failure to include this information prompted this statement by the American Beverage Association (ABA), which represents soft drink manufacturers: This research is nothing more than an abstract it has not been peerreviewed, published or even, at the very least, presented at a scientific meeting. Furthermore, neither this abstract nor the body of scientific evidence supports that drinking soda or other sweetened beverages causes depression. Thus, promoting any alleged findings without supporting evidence is not only premature, but irresponsible. Many media outlets did successfully recognize the need to explain correlation versus causation and succeeded in going beyond the studys findings to explain what it actually means for consumers. CBS Charlotte provided a fair and accurate picture of the study, explaining the findings but then pointing out its shortcomings. Their article says, The soda study does not take into consideration that medications may have altered the study, as some medications can cause depression. They also make the point, A death or loss in the family by individuals in the study, an illness, or a family history of depression are other

factors that the National Institute of Health may not have considered while conducting the soda study. NBC News provided a disclaimer, saying the study only found an association between sweetened drinks and depression. They said, Although the researchers took into account factors that could affect the results, such as age, sex, education, smoking status, physical activity, body mass index (BMI) and energy intake, it's possible other circumstances, such as a family history of depression or stressful life events, could explain the association. While there is a slight possibility that there could be a correlation between sweetened drinks and depression, depending on various factors, it is clear that much more research needs to be done before fretting about developing sweetened-soda sadness.