Critically evaluate scientific evidence regarding health claim

In Australia, we spend hundreds of billions of dollars every year in the pursuit of greater health.
One result of this tendency is that we find ourselves bombarded with health claims: claims about how a food or other product can improve one’s health.
As part of the next generation of health care professionals, it is important that you are able to critically evaluate whether or not such health claims are supported by evidence. That is what this unit will help you to do.
In this first task, you will develop your knowledge of a particular health claim.
Later, you will learn:
i) how to critically evaluate scientific evidence regarding that same health claim, and.
ii) how to communicate your knowledge regarding that health claim to those to whom it is directed.
INSTRUCTIONS
The task:
Your goal in this essay is to evaluate the importance of your chosen health claim. (Note: your topic must be approved by your instructor before you start your research for this assessment).
Put simply, if a health claim is addressed to lots of people, targets vulnerable people, or addresses a severe illness, then it is probably important.
To evaluate the importance of your chosen health claim, your essay must investigate and report on the following things:
• What precisely is the health claim that is being made?
• What organisation (or type of organisation) promotes this health claim?
• To what problem (illness, ailment, etc.) What does the health claim refer to?
• What is the scale of this problem in Australia? (e.g. how many people does it affect, how severe are its effects, how much does this problem cost, etc.)