This module provides an integrated overview of the relationship of diet/food/nutrient/energy intakes and human growth and development. It provides an understanding of the nutritional requirements of the human body through the life cycle; it examines the changing nature of nutritional needs in relation to growth, development and disease prevention. The possible aetiologies of diseases, affecting each subgroup of the population will be investigated; hence this module will lend itself to module, TNFT2023, Diet Health and Disease. This module uses nutritional surveys and published government policy documents to enhance understanding of nutritional requirements and recommendations for population subgroups.
Indicative syllabus covered in the module and / or in its discrete elements:
Maternal Nutrition – pregnancy
Infants and Toddlers and preschool children – breastfeeding, weaning, neophobia and fussy eating
Adolescents – dietary concerns - Fad diets, dietary trends/habits, Body Image
Adults – Nutrition related chronic diseases (NRCD) and their prevention
Elderly - institutional and community settings
Fad diets/modern day dieting trends: Atkins diet, Gluten free diet, Zone diet, Paleo diet
National Nutrition Surveys and National Nutritional Policy Documents
Nutritional Research Methodology - Role of Nutritional Epidemiology (Dietary Assessment Methodology , Biological markers - quantitative/qualitative methods
Dietary guidelines – Food Based Dietary Guidelines – their uses and derivation
Changing the populations diet – strategies to do this – role for supplementation. Fortification, novel foods, dietary change (behavioural modification).
Lectures, discussions and brief presentations, an assessment involving critical evaluation of diet and growth/disease associations at various life-stages .
| Module Content & Assessment | |
|---|---|
| Assessment Breakdown | % |
| Formal Examination | 70 |
| Other Assessment(s) | 30 |