Nutrition in Health & Disease Prevention 4Y option BIOL4036

  • Academic Session: 2024-25
  • School: School of Cardiovascular and Metabolic
  • Credits: 20
  • Level: Level 4 (SCQF level 10)
  • Typically Offered: Semester 1
  • Available to Visiting Students: Yes
  • Collaborative Online International Learning: No

Short Description

Students will learn how to interpret nutritional epidemiology studies by looking in detail at the latest research papers to examine the relationships between diet and chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer.

Timetable

There are normally two 90-minutes sessions on Fridays. 

Requirements of Entry

Normally, only available to final-year Life Sciences students in a Human Biology & Nutrition or Physiology Sports Science & Nutrition programme. Visiting students may be allowed to enrol, at the discretion of the Life Sciences Chief Adviser and the Course Coordinator.

Excluded Courses

None.

Assessment

The course will be assessed by a 1-hour data handling examination (30%) and in-course assessment consisting of a poster presentation or infographic (10%) and a portfolio (60%).
The portfolio will consist of a review of epidemiological evidence on the role of diet and chronic disease prevention, studies will be organised based on hierarchy of evidence using evidence tables.

Main Assessment In: April/May

Are reassessment opportunities available for all summative assessments? Not applicable for Honours courses

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. For non-Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below. 

Course Aims

This course aims to train students in using scientific evidence to understand the role of nutrition in chronic disease prevention and health.

Intended Learning Outcomes of Course

By the end of this course, students will be able to: 

■ Define and critically evaluate relevant concepts and basic methods used in nutritional epidemiology;

■ Critically discuss the role of diet on the epidemiology of major chronic diseases;

■ Discuss strategies used for nutrition promotion;

■ Use scientific evidence to communicate nutrition information related to health aimed at the general public.

Minimum Requirement for Award of Credits

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.