Bachelor of Human Nutrition

Subject Outline

Nutrition and Disease

In this subject, you will:

• develop an understanding of the relationships between nutrition and disease and explore key diseases in which nutritional factors have a key role (as a platform for future studies in the prevention and management of nutrition-related diseases)
  
  
• be introduced to food microbiology, and will gain an understanding of food and water-borne illnesses caused by microbial contamination
  
  
• will consolidate skills in critical appraisal of the scientific literature in relation to the pathophysiology of nutrition-related disease

Food and Societies

In this subject you will:

• develop an informed and critical understanding of the personal, social, cultural, environmental, economic and political factors influencing food, food use and food habits for individuals, communities and populations
  
  
• look at cuisines from other cultures and the effects of multiculturalism on Australian culinary culture through readings and media, discussions and assignments
  
  
• develop an understanding of how the role of food has changed from ancient times to now, and be introduced to monitoring and surveillance data used to understand factors influencing patterns and trends in food consumption worldwide
  
  
• be introduced to food labelling and how food policy, food technologies, ecology and agriculture influence the food system

Lifespan Nutrition

In this subject, you will:

• develop an understanding of nutrition requirements and physiological changes across the lifespan: pre-conception, pregnancy and foetal development, lactation, infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood and ageing as well as special situations including nutrition for sport
  
  
• learn about food and nutrition dietary patterns across the different life stages
  
  
• combine prior nutritional and biosciences knowledge and skills with the new material to gain a more in-depth understanding of human nutritional needs, requirements and habits

Advances in Nutritional Science and Nutrigenomics

In this subject you will:

• build on knowledge gained in first and second year nutrition subjects
  
  
• discuss advanced topics in nutritional sciences focusing on the most recent nutrition research as well as emerging nutrition related issues and fields of study including nutrigenomics
  
  
• develop advanced understanding of biochemical processes and how these influence nutritional status as well as impacts on health, chronic disease prevention and management

Food Science and Food Skills

In this subject you will:

• develop detailed knowledge of how scientific manipulations of food impact on individual food components
  
  
• critically examine the processes involved in producing foods for human consumption from raw ingredients, highlighting food production and processing techniques that bring about changes to the biological, chemical, physical and nutritional state of the food
  
  
• will apply your knowledge of food safety, food production on a medium-large scale, sensory analysis, food labelling law, the development of standard costed recipes and nutritional analysis of recipes through the development of a food product suitable for sale
  
  
• translate food science for consumers through development of a food label with supporting marketing and publicity materials

Epidemiology and Research Methods

In this subject you will:

• develop an understanding of epidemiological study designs and research concepts of direct relevance to the role of food and nutrition in the prevention, causation and management of disease
  
  
• learn nutrition measurement techniques for the assessment of diet and body composition of individuals and populations in depth
  
  
• review sources of data on mortality and morbidity, measures of disease prevalence, incidence and risk, chance, bias and confounding variables of relevance to nutritional epidemiology
  
  
• review standard parametric and non-parametric statistical techniques
  
  
• use statistical software programs to analyse a population dataset

Nutrition Project

In this subject you will:

• undertake a small project in nutrition, either individually or as part of a group project, where individual objectives for the student's project are met
  
  
• will provide you with experience and skills in project management, data collection, data analysis and interpretation, critical analysis, and preparation of a scientific report through the project work
  
  
• be expected to complete online modules, work independently in self-directed learning, and meet regularly with your project supervisor

Sports Nutrition

In this subject you will:

• learn the essentials of human nutrition that improve and sustain optimal performance for sport and exercise for both elite and recreational athletes
  
  
• learn topics including pre, during and post training/event nutrition and fluid intake, nutrition for muscle gain and fat loss for optimising body composition and performance
  
  
• discuss nutritional challenges seen in specific sports and age groups as well as sports supplements