NUT3011 : Nutritional Epidemiology and Public Health
NUT3011 : Nutritional Epidemiology and Public Health
- Offered for Year: 2024/25
- Module Leader(s): Dr Frances Hillier-Brown
- Lecturer: Dr Andrea Fairley, Dr Oliver Shannon, Professor Ashley Adamson, Professor Georg Lietz, Professor Bernard Corfe, Professor Thomas Hill
- Owning School: Biomedical, Nutritional and Sports Scien
- Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
Semesters
Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.
| Semester 1 Credit Value: | 20 |
| Semester 2 Credit Value: | 10 |
| ECTS Credits: | 15.0 |
| European Credit Transfer System | |
Pre-requisite
Modules you must have done previously to study this module
Pre Requisite Comment
N/A
Co-Requisite
Modules you need to take at the same time
Co Requisite Comment
N/A
Aims
To utilise recent literature to consider the relationships between diet, health, and chronic disease, and how these relationships inform public health strategy and implementation.
Outline Of Syllabus
Research-informed lectures will cover the following topics:
•An overview of nutritional epidemiology and research study design.
•Monitoring diet at a population level. Food-based dietary guidelines.
•The role of nutrition in the aetiology of common chronic diseases.
•The interaction of diet and other environmental factors (diversity, inequalities, socioeconomic factors) in determining behaviours, lifestyles, and the prevention of disease.
•Prevalence of global malnutrition including obesity and nutrient deficiencies.
•Population preventive and treatment strategies for nutrition-related diseases.
Group based workshops will be used to facilitate delivery of the following topics:
•Determinants of health.
•Public health needs assessment.
•Current public health policy and promotion.
•Key Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition reports and UK dietary reference values
•Theory and ethics of health promotion and health education including behaviour change strategies.
•Social marketing and health promotion campaign models. The role of mass media.
•UK, international, government, and non-governmental organisation policies. Relevant government white papers.
•Nutrition policy development and implementation.
•Planning and evaluation of health promotion campaigns.
•Working with communities.
•Health economics
However, as this is a constantly changing field with new health initiatives and advice, and more nutrition-related diseases developing, the syllabus may change somewhat to reflect this fact.
Learning Outcomes
Intended Knowledge Outcomes
At the end of the module, students should be able to:
1. Discuss the epidemiological and experimental evidence for the involvement of nutrients, diet, and other principal risk factors, in the development of chronic diseases.
2. Relate the outcomes of nutritional epidemiological data to current nutrition policy and practice/recommendations in the United Kingdom and international agencies.
3. Critically analyse some of the ethical and political issues involved in the development of health promotion strategies designed to promote behaviour change in differing educational, cultural and socio-economic backgrounds.
Intended Skill Outcomes
At the end of the module, students should be able to:
1. Employ critical and scientific writing skills to document and report findings to professional and scientific audiences.
2. Assess the scientific evidence in public health nutrition and its use to draw justifiable conclusions.
3. Apply knowledge of nutritional epidemiology and public health in the critical evaluation of a health promotion campaign.
Teaching Methods
Teaching Activities
| Category | Activity | Number | Length | Student Hours | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Lecture | 2 | 2:00 | 4:00 | To draw together key elements of the module learning (PiP) |
| Structured Guided Learning | Lecture materials | 1 | 1:00 | 1:00 | Introduce module establishing content approach & pattern of student learning acts - non-sync online |
| Structured Guided Learning | Lecture materials | 8 | 0:30 | 4:00 | To impart theoretical knowledge - non-sync online |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 60:00 | 60:00 | Preparation of briefing paper of a public health campaign and for oral presentation evaluation. |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Lecture | 17 | 2:00 | 34:00 | To impart theoretical knowledge (PiP) |
| Guided Independent Study | Directed research and reading | 20 | 2:00 | 40:00 | Self-guided reading on lecture topics. |
| Guided Independent Study | Directed research and reading | 13 | 2:00 | 26:00 | Self-guided reading on workshop and tutorial topics |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Small group teaching | 1 | 1:00 | 1:00 | Student centred small group session building on knowledge gained in lectures (online) |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Small group teaching | 5 | 1:00 | 5:00 | Student centred small group session building on knowledge gained in lectures (PiP) |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Workshops | 7 | 2:00 | 14:00 | Student centred workshops building on knowledge gained in lectures (PiP |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Fieldwork | 1 | 3:00 | 3:00 | Unsupervised data collection work outside the university. |
| Guided Independent Study | Independent study | 1 | 108:00 | 108:00 | Self-directed study |
| Total | 300:00 |
Teaching Rationale And Relationship
Research-led lectures are used to deliver key information relevant to the subject. These are balanced with a diverse array of up-to-date resources where students are encouraged to explore topics in more depth. In the workshops and tutorials, the knowledge base on health promotion is built upon via a student-centered approach and critique of public health initiatives.
Reading Lists
Assessment Methods
The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners
Exams
| Description | Length | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Written Examination | 120 | 1 | A | 60 | Invigilated exam - Answer 2 out of 3 questions set from 8 seen questions - PIP |
Other Assessment
| Description | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oral Examination | 2 | M | 40 | Development of a briefing paper & oral presentation to propose & critique a public health initiative/ health promotion campaign PIP |
Assessment Rationale And Relationship
The exam tests the students’ ability to produce clear and concise essays on topics which require integration of information from the lectures and additional reading and to justify the views expressed by reference to appropriate experimental evidence. Students will be given 8 exam questions at the start of the module and instructed that the exam will be made up of three of these exam questions, with a requirement that two of three questions would need to be answered. Students will not be informed which of the three questions will be chosen for the exam.
The briefing paper development and oral presentation are designed to test students' abilities to integrate material across module boundaries with a focus to develop a deep understanding of public health intiatives/health promotion campaigns related to nutrition. Students will work in groups of 4-5 and will be assigned a health promotion target and strategy. Students will develop a public health initiative/health promotion campaign to promote to a public health practitioner, based on a critical evaluation of its effectiveness.
MDiet candidates must obtain an overall mark of 40 or above to pass the module, however, if the module has more than one assessment students must also achieve a mark of at least 35 in each component of the assessment to pass the module.
To meet accreditation requirements and to pass this module, BSc (Hons) Human Nutrition and BSc (Hons) Nutrition with Food Marketing students must obtain a mark of 40 or above for each summative assessment.
Timetable
- Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
- NUT3011's Timetable
Past Exam Papers
- Exam Papers Online : www.ncl.ac.uk/exam.papers/
- NUT3011's past Exam Papers
General Notes
N/A
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