Dear Ms. Sampson:

In you article today about "cheap-food addiction", you reported:

"About 90% of adult-onset diabetes, 80% of heart conditions, and 33% of
cancer could be avoided by healthy eating and exercise." (story not
available on web)

While I do not doubt that you heard this from a panelist at the "What are
we eating conference?" in Montreal, these statements are so egregiously
wrong as to invite comment.

I am attaching for you two articles that succinctly outline the absurdity
of these claims.

(not attached here but available at:  http://tinyurl.com/apazw  and
http://tinyurl.com/djaot

And indeed, it has been known since the mid 1970's famous Whitehall Studies
that "healthy eating", physcial activity, and weight, cholesterol, smoking
and any other liofestyle indicator that you can image account for at most
30% of variance.  These findings have been replicated dozens of times. The
statement contained in your article is not even close to being correct.

I believe that you have a responsibility to have at least have some
semblance of accuracy of material that you pass on. I am cc'ing this to the
public editor, not because you are any more guilty than most other Star
writers of this, but to indicate that this is an ongoing pattern of
inaccurate and misleading reporting about the risks to health of "unhealthy
choices." Rest assured you are not alone in this.  It seems to be a common
affliction among health writers.

Thank you for listening.

Dennis Raphael, Ph.D.
Associate Professor & Undergraduate Programme Director
School of Health Policy & Management
Atkinson Faculty of Liberal & Professional Studies
York University
4700 Keele St.
Toronto ON M3J 1P3
Ph: 416-736-2100 ext. 22134
Fax: 416-736-5227
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Website: http://www.atkinson.yorku.ca/draphael

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