New video series on how to read and critically evaluate systematic reviews and meta-analyses

Findings from recent surveys among undergraduate nutrition students¹ and health professionals² highlight the importance of building skills to scrutinize and critically evaluate nutrition information from non-academic sources, such as social media. One important tool is to follow the hierarchy of scientific evidence. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses (SRMAs) are often considered the highest quality of scientific evidence. However, SRMAs can only provide strong evidence if they are performed well. 

The Canadian Sugar Institute (CSI) is pleased to share a series of online videos presented by Dr. Laura Chiavaroli (University of Toronto), providing an overview of SRMAs and the knowledge and skills to read and critically evaluate a SRMA. Stay tuned for more videos in this series to showcase the hands-on experience of reading and evaluating a published SRMA.  

• Part 1: What are Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses
• Part 2: How to Conduct a Systematic Review
• Part 3: How to Conduct a Meta-Analysis
• Part 4: How to Perform a GRADE³ Analysis

Laura Chiavaroli, PhD is a Clinical Trialist and Post-Doctoral Fellow with Dr. John Sievenpiper at the University of Toronto. Throughout Laura’s training, she has gained robust experience in the conduct of systematic reviews and meta-analyses. She has co-authored over 30 systematic reviews and meta-analyses and focuses much of her time on educating others about how they are performed and interpreted. Laura's primary research interests lie in the field of nutrition and cardiometabolic health, specifically on carbohydrate nutrition, obesity, and diabetes. 

To watch these and other CSI videos, please visit our YouTube channel. 

¹Ye (Flora) Wang, Nick Bellissimo, David D. Kitts, Huguette Turgeon O’Brien, W. L. David Ma, Miyoung Suh, Bohdan Luhovyy, Chiara DiAngelo, Laura Pasut, Sandra Marsden, Mei Chung & Anil Gurcan (2020) Knowledge and Perceptions of Carbohydrates among Nutrition-Major and Nutrition-Elective Undergraduate Students in Canada, Journal of the American College of Nutrition, DOI: 10.1080/07315724.2020.1750503
²Flora Wang PhD, Chiara L.Diangelo RD, MPH, Sandra L. Marsden RD, MHSc, Laura Pasut RD, MSc, MBA, David Kitts PhD, and Nick Bellissimo PhD. Knowledge of Sugars Consumption and the WHO Sugars Guideline among Canadian Dietitians and Other Health Professionals. Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research. 81(3): 142-145. https://doi.org/10.3148/cjdpr-2020-004
³GRADE: The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation, a transparent approach to grading the quality of scientific evidence and strength of recommendations, and now considered the standard in guideline development. https://www.gradeworkinggroup.org/