Human Nutrition
Core courses
Food and Nutrient Requirements and Nutrition through the Lifecycle
Course Leader – Dr Alison Parrett
This course provides a detailed overview of the structure, function, sources and requirements of nutrients. Food safety, food additives, genetically modified foods, food labelling and other key issues are discussed and debated. Students will also gain an evidence based understanding of the nutritional requirements at each stage of life and their relation to developmental and health risks.
Assessment - Examination comprising essay and data handling questions.
Digestion, Absorption and Nutritional Metabolism
Course Leader - Professor Christine Edwards
Aims
This course provides students with an understanding of the processes of digestion, absorption and nutrient metabolism and how they relate to nutrition and health. The post absorptive metabolic processes and their impact on lipoprotein metabolism and other biomarkers of cardiovascular disease risk will be discussed. Students are introduced to the importance of energy expenditure and discuss methods for estimation and measurement of energy expenditure.
Assessment - Examination comprising essay and data handling questions.
Dietary and Nutritional Assessment
Course Leader – Dr Alison Parrett
Aims
This course will train students to carry out dietary assessment and discuss the strengths and limitations of different methodologies and their appropriate use in different settings. Students will consider the principles of nutritional assessment using anthropology, biochemical, and functional tests and consider the evidence for their strengths, limitations and appropriate use.
Assessment – examination and dietary analysis report
Public Health Nutrition and Eating Behaviour
Course Leader - Dr Ada Garcia
Aims
The course discusses the factors which influence food choice and eating behaviour, presents the fundamental principles of nutritional epidemiology and public health nutrition and reviews the evidence for the role of diet and exercise in the cause and prevention of chronic conditions including cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Assessment – examination and course work
Core recommended reading
- Introduction to Human Nutrition 2nd Edn (Eds Gibney, Lanham-New, Cassidy, Vorster 2009)
- Nutrition and Metabolism 2nd Edn (Eds Lanham-New, Macdonald, Roche 2011)
- Public Health Nutrition (Eds Gibney, Arab, Margetts 2004)
- Metabolic Regulation: A Human Perspective (Eds Frayn 2003)
- Dietary reference values for food, energy and nutrients for the Uk (DoH 1991).
Students will also be expected to read relevant reports and peer-reviewed articles.