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White hat bias: examples of its presence in obesity research and a call for renewed commitment to faithfulness in research reporting

Abstract

‘White hat bias’ (WHB) (bias leading to distortion of information in the service of what may be perceived to be righteous ends) is documented through quantitative data and anecdotal evidence from the research record regarding the postulated predisposing and protective effects of nutritively sweetened beverages and breastfeeding, respectively, on obesity. Evidence of an apparent WHB is found in a degree sufficient to mislead readers. WHB bias may be conjectured to be fuelled by feelings of righteous zeal, indignation toward certain aspects of industry or other factors. Readers should beware of WHB, and our field should seek methods to minimize it.

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge Dr Alfred A Bartolucci for his comments on our data analysis and Dr Lenny Vartanian for sharing his data file. Supported in part by the NIH grant P30DK056336. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIH or any other organization with which the authors are affiliated.

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Correspondence to D B Allison.

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Cope, M., Allison, D. White hat bias: examples of its presence in obesity research and a call for renewed commitment to faithfulness in research reporting. Int J Obes 34, 84–88 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2009.239

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