COURSE: Food and Nutrition in Population Health

This five-day 6 point unit introduces the principles of essential human nutrition with applications to public health. This unit will provide students with a basic introduction to food and nutrition as well as applications to public health. Applied topics include nutrition for different life stages; popular diets; nutrition and chronic disease; Indigenous nutrition; global nutrition issues; regulation of the food supply; nutrition for athletic performance and public health nutrition interventions. Students are able to summarise the key nutrients essential for human health in terms of their roles and dietary sources; identify the different nutritional requirements at various life stages; describe and illustrate the role of nutrition in maintaining optimal health and preventing or delaying the development of chronic disease; identify factors that influence dietary choices in Australia; outline global nutrition issues including food security and food ecology; illustrate public health nutrition interventions; summarise key aspects of nutrition policy; demonstrate key examples of food regulation in Australia, and compare different methods for assessing nutritional status.

Unit outline

The five-day unit will consist of a combination of lecture, practical case studies and discussions. In preparation for the teaching week, you will be sent pre-reading prior to the start of the unit.

Who should attend?

Anyone with an interest in food and nutrition and how it pertains to public health, human movement, and food supply among other applications. This includes science, human movement and education students, health department staff, doctors, nurses, researchers, managers and students of public health.

This unit is available for postgraduate students as a 6 point unit. It is also available for professional development. Fees apply, please visit our website for details.