CONSORT1 Task 3

The author mentions that this study was approved by the “National Health Service South-West 3 Research Ethics Committee (10/H0106/13)” (Betts et al, 2014). This study meets the conduct and procedures that were set by the Consolidated Standard of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) guideline. Diagrams, flow charts, and descripted details and rational for that aligns with the CONSORT guidelines can be obtained online.
I do believe that Betts and his team did a good job setting their inclusion criteria and protecting their subjects. They included “healthy” individuals who had a stable weight and some of whom practiced regular physical activity. They excluded, pregnant and lactating women and, shift workers. Also, many laboratory assessments were done on the participants that tested, cholesterol level, glucose, metabolism and hormone levels.
They also did not mention the consequences of having low iron count. This is important because, although participants were deemed healthy, those with either lower/higher sugar levels or low iron count may have been randomly assigned to the fasting group, which may not be beneficial to him/her. Assembly this is covered in the research code of ethics; however, many not be familiar with it, so I do think it is worth mentioning hypothetics in the exclusion criteria.
Another point to make is that if one is already lean and actively, maybe it would not be the greatest idea to advise them to fast; especially if this is something new to them. I understand that this study focus on lean healthy individuals, so I don’t have a suggestion or an alternative way to test the