The expert groups are to review the existing scientific evidence in order to enable setting population reference intakes and related dietary reference values to guarantee optimal nutrition and to prevent lifestyle related diseases such as cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis and certain types of cancer, type 2 diabetes and related risk factors. In other words, the experts assess the associations between different nutrients and specific health outcomes. Each expert group has chosen a chairperson within the group.
The reviewers will be asked to read and comment on the SLR conducted by the expert groups. The formulation of recommendations based on the scientific evidence (i.e., the management), will be done by the NNR5 working group. The reviewers will also be asked to read and comment on the revised Nordic nutrition recommendations.
Finally, the reference group that will be involved in the project will review the draft recommendations before publication. The reference group shall also be consulted, should the experts in the expert groups disagree on the conclusions to be drawn from the systematic literature reviews or individual studies.
The NNR 5 working group will be responsible for the revision process and for the final proposal for the 5th edition of the NNR. The revised 5th edition will be presented at the 10th Nordic Nutrition Congress in Reykjavik, Iceland, in June 2012. After the conference, public hearings and consultations will be organised in respective Nordic country.
Reviewing the scientific evidence
Systematic literature reviews will be performed to minimise potential reporting bias through comprehensive and reproducible searches using clearly defined search strategies together with clearly defined and described selections and reporting protocols. Established criteria for evaluating the methodological quality of the included studies and the overall strength of the scientific evidence will be used and the work process will include several stakeholders in a transparent process. This will be ensured through detailed documentation of the decision making process. The appointed experts for each subject/area will, in collaboration with a methodologist (specialised in performing systematic literature searches), be involved in developing the search strategies for their area of expertise.
The expertgroups are listed in the left hand menu. The experts and reviewers are listed groupwise under these headings. The CVs and Declaration of interest forms (DoI) will be posted under each heading, respectively, as soon as the steering group has checked and accepted the DoIs.
We are still waiting for response for some of the experts and reviewers who have been invited to participate. Their names will be published at the website as soon as they have accepted the invitation.