Evaluating a Health Trend

Late submissions will not be accepted

The business of health and wellness is one of the most profitable in the world, generating over $4.5 trillion per year. After all, who doesn’t want to be healthy and well? Each year, we see certain wellness trends take off: new diets, new workout regimens, new health/fitness technologies, etc. Despite their rising popularities, most of these health trends did not go through rigorous scientific evaluations to test their claims.

For this assignment, your job is to use existing scientific evidence and findings to evaluate a new “health trend” of your choice.

Specifically, your paper should have the following 3 components:

1. (.5pt) Identify and describe your chosen “health trend”.
a. What is it?
b. What are their claimed health benefits?
c. Who are their target audiences/consumers?
d. How popular is it?

2. (1.5pt) Read and cite at least 3 peer-reviewed scientific papers/articles (see ‘Guidelines for Peer-Reviewed Scientific Articles’ below for details), and use findings and evidence from these papers to evaluate your chosen health trend.
a. Cite and briefly describe the scientific articles
b. How do these scientific findings relate to your chosen health trend (e.g., how can they help you evaluate the health trend?)?

*Note that the scientific articles do not have to directly evaluate the health trend, but they should be related to at least some aspects of the health trend. For example, if you choose “intermittent fasting” as your health trend, and intermittent fasting is often claimed to increase metabolism rate, then you can choose scientific articles related to metabolism, and then discuss how these scientific findings are consistent/inconsistent with the claims associated with intermittent fasting. This is just one example. I will accept whatever scientific articles you choose, as long as you make the connections clear – that is, you must clearly demonstrate how these scientific findings can help you evaluate your chosen health trend.

3. (1pt) Based on the scientific evidence/findings you gathered, what are your opinions on this new trend?
a. Do you believe in its claims? Do you think it’s a legitimate way to improve health and wellness? Do you think it’s a scam? Why?

Your paper should be 2 pages (no less than 1 page of actual content) in APA format, using 12-point font, Times New Roman font, double spacing, and 1-inch margins. Please submit your paper as a Word document only (doc. or docx.).