How, and why, a journalist tricked news outlets into thinking chocolate makes you thin
The media coverage was instantaneous and jubilant:
“Scientists say eating chocolate can help you lose weight,” read a headline in the Irish Examiner.
“Excellent News: Chocolate Can Help You Lose Weight!” Huffington Post India boasted.
“Dieting? Don’t forget the chocolate,” announced Modern Healthcare.
It was unbelievable news. And reporters shouldn’t have believed it.
It turns out that the Institute of Diet and Health is just a Web site with no institute attached. Johannes Bohannon, health researcher and lead author of the study, is really John Bohannon, a science journalist. And the study, while based on real results of an actual clinical trial, wasn’t aimed at testing the health benefits of chocolate. It was aimed at testing health reporters, to see if they could distinguish a bad science story from a good one.
In many cases, they couldn’t.
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