🛠️ Chapter 4: Relevance to Practice
28 4.4: Biases in Research, Knowledge Translation and Application
Historically, dietary guidelines have been developed based on Eurocentric models, often overlooking the diverse dietary practices and nutritional needs of different cultural groups within Canada. This bias can lead to inaccuracies in nutritional epidemiology, perpetuating systemic inequities in health outcomes (Kipnis et al., 2002).
Video 4.3: Associate Professor and researcher, Kafi Ealey, explains how ingrained and normalized white supremacy is, in dietetic education and practice and how this can negatively impact the health of Black Canadians.
Keywords: Bias, Epigenetics, White Supremacy.
Stop and Reflect
Nurses Health Study: A Resource for Metabolic Disease Research
The Nurses Health Study is a comprehensive long-term research project focused on understanding the factors influencing women’s health. It provides valuable insights into a range of health conditions, including metabolic diseases, which are crucial for evaluating health disparities among different racial and ethnic groups.
For more information, visit the official Nurses Health Study website. This resource complements our discussion by offering data and research that can help in assessing the inclusivity and applicability of health research within diverse populations.
Impact on Black health
Biased dietary guidelines contribute to health disparities by inadequately addressing the unique health needs and challenges faced by racialized populations, including Black individuals. Eurocentric perspectives and cultural insensitivity in guideline development perpetuate stereotypes and undermine the cultural significance of diverse food practices, further exacerbating inequities (Kipnis et al., 2002). The following case offers one example of how these issues manifest.
Case Study 4.2: Clinical Assessments of People with Darker Skin
Authors: Zoe Barnett & Bianca Cordeiro
Trigger warning: this story includes examples of racism, microaggression and prejudice.
Keywords: Colourism/Shadism, Microaggression, and Prejudice.
In a clinical nutrition university course, students learned about physical findings for a condition which causes flushed skin and all the pictures which were displayed were of patients with pale skin tones. When Adia, a mixed-race student who self-identifies as Black because of her darker skin tone, asked the white professor what signs to look for in darker complexions. The professor completely ignored her question, pretending like she had never heard it. After class, Adia approached the professor and asked the question again. The professor said, “I assume it would look similar, just darker. Don’t any of your relatives have it? What do they look like?” Adia said politely, “No, none of my white or Black relatives have it and I’ve never seen it before.” A while later, Adia shared her experience during a Canadian Black Registered Dietitians Association meeting. A dietitian, Sharon, who had been in practice for 10 years stated, “That’s a great question you asked, Adia! When I’ve seen that condition in my darker skin clients, I’ve noticed a big difference in the colour of skin between their face and their forearm. I’m not sure if that’s how to identify the condition all the time but so far that’s what I’ve noticed”.