What should be the role of the media in nutrition communication?

Abstract

The increasing availability of nutrition and health information has not always increased the knowledge of the general population, but presents them with the need to know and understand in order for choices to be made. While communicating science to the lay public, several challenges are encountered, ranging from the heterogeneity of the audience, the consumers, who demand certainty and a straightforward message, through the different aims and agendas of all the communicators, to the inherent complexity of the scientific message. Nowadays, the media is one major source of scientific information to the general public. The present article examines what the role of the media and scientists should be in bringing scientific communication to the public and how this communication could be improved.