Q: Why do you include the admonition to “Take Charge!” so often in every issue?
A: Alice H. Lichtenstein, DSc, editor-in-chief of Tufts Health & Nutrition Letter, answers: “We here at Tufts Health & Nutrition Letter feel strongly about providing up-to-date, evidence-based, and accurate information to our readers. We also understand that knowledge cannot improve health unless it is put into action. With that in mind, we include a ‘Take Charge!’ box for each feature article in every issue. If readers are interested in applying the information in the article to their lives, these tips offer specific, actionable steps they can take.
“Along the same lines, you may have noticed we’ve been publishing more articles in recent years that include recipes, cooking tips, and other ‘non-science’ information. We feel it is useless to advise people to, for example, eat more whole grains if they don’t know how to cook them or find packaged foods that include them.
“If you’re a careful reader, you’ll notice some ‘Take Charge!’ tips repeat from issue to issue (or sometimes even article to article). This is because certain core advice (for example, to cut back on intake of red and processed meats and replace them with plant proteins, fish/seafood, low-fat and fat-free dairy, and some poultry and eggs, or to be physically active in any way you can) is key to health and so applies to just about every topic we cover.
“The ‘Take Charge!’ box also serves as a summary, restating the article’s key points. Readers can look to these boxes for a quick refresher (or even to inspire them to read the full article if they find the bullet points interesting and relevant to them).
“The researchers, medical professionals, professors, and other experts affiliated with Tufts University who advise on, provide information for, write, and review these articles truly want the best for our readers’ health and quality of life. We hope this comes through in our encouragement to take charge of your health.”
Alice H. Lichtenstein, DSc, is a Senior Scientist and Leader of the Diet & Chronic Disease Prevention Directive at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Gershoff Professor of Nutrition Science and Policy at the Friedman School, Tufts University, and editor-in-chief of this newsletter.
