Scientific Knowledge Essential for Healthy Nutrition

Sabri Ülker Foundation, which aims to base scientific knowledge in health and nutrition in society, held a session titled "How Should We Combat Information Pollution?" at the 11th World Conference of Science Journalists held in Lausanne, Switzerland. Sabri Ülker Foundation, which continues its work with the aim of raising public awareness on food, nutrition and healthy living issues and combating misconceptions in these areas, hosted a session titled "How Should We Combat Information Pollution?" at the 11th World Conference of Science Journalists held on 3-5 July. The conference, where many topics such as professional principles related to science journalism and new challenges caused by changes in media as well as science policy, science and ethics sociology were discussed, was organized by the World Federation of Science Journalists in Lausanne, Switzerland under the theme "Reaching New Heights in Science Journalism." The conference was held with the participation of editors-in-chief and science editors from prestigious publications including The Guardian, Le Monde and Financial Times. The conference, attended by over 500 people, focuses on a different theme each year and brings together solution proposals based on better publishing and communication in science and health reporting.

Information Pollution Issue Addressed

The session "How Should We Combat Information Pollution?" hosted by Sabri Ülker Foundation and followed with great interest by participants was held with the participation of Nimali Samarasinha, Communication Director of the European Food Information Council, Fiona Fox, Director of Science Media Center, Begüm Mutuş, General Director of Sabri Ülker Foundation, and Prof. Dr. Ali Atıf Bir, Founder of the Institute of Communication Sciences. In the session, which drew attention to the importance of communicating scientific information, the impact of health and nutrition news on society was discussed and the ethical codes of science journalism were addressed.

Source Shortage in Health News in Turkey

The research "Source Evaluation in Health News in Turkish Media" (August 2017), which examined health and nutrition content on the highest-traffic news portals in Turkey, points to the lack of references in news reports. According to the research results, 94.7% of health and nutrition news is published without attribution. While the share of news without reference sources is 40.4%, when looking at news with sources cited, national sources account for 31.9% and international sources 15.8% of the sources shown in the news. The insufficiency of source use reveals that the scientific views of international reference institutions are not reflected in news content, while it emerges as one of the most important factors in information pollution in these areas. According to the research, social media is the most consulted source of information, but raises questions about reliability:

• Healthy eating ranks first among most curious topics at 32%. While 22% are curious about general health information and weight loss/diet topics, dietary supplements ranked last at 2%.
• The most trusted individuals on healthy eating topics are those who appear in communication channels with expert credentials at 62% in first place.
• Family/friends/environment accounts for 38%, while social media and television are mentioned as the most consulted sources of information, but trust in these channels is 13%.
• One out of every 10 people who receive information on healthy eating from any source always follows what they hear.
• One out of every 5 people is curious about weight loss/diet topics in addition to healthy eating.