Course syllabus
Course-PM
KLI042 Nutrition, health and sustainable diets lp4 VT20 (7.5 hp)
Course is offered by the department of Biology and Biological Engineering
Contact details
Course administration/examiner: Marie Alminger,
Office: Chemistry/Biology building, Research building 1, Floor 7, room 7067
email: marie.alminger@chalmers.se,
phone: 772 3817
Other teachers:
Malin Barman, email: malin.barman@chalmers.se
Stefan Wirsenius, email: stefan.wirsenius@chalmers.se
Lab supervisors:
Kia Nöhr Iversen, kia.nohr@chalmers.se (Dietary assessment)
Elise Nordin, elise.nordin@chalmers.se (Dietary assessment)
Jingnan Zhang, jinzha@chalmers.se (Vitamin C lab)
Rikard Fristedt, rikfri@chalmers.se (Vitamin C lab)
Course purpose
The aim of the course “Nutrition and Health and sustainable diets” is to introduce students to the concepts of nutrition and its role in health. The purpose is also to provide an overview of how diets – the type, combination and quantity of foods consumed - can contribute to a sustainable food future.
Schedule
A preliminary course schedule can be found in the Files, it will be updated regularly. Please read the information in the course schedule since changes have been made for some dates and times (not always the same as in TimeEdit)
Course literature
A selection of scientific publications and chapters from text books with relevant and current literature within nutrition, health and sustainability issues - and related to the food sector, will be available during the course. Suggested Textbook for Background reading (available at Cremona and as e-book):
Introduction to Human Nutrition. eds. Gibney, Lanham-New, Cassidy and Vorster. The Nutrition society. Blackwell Science, 2009. ISBN 978-4051-6807-6.
A reading list is provided in Files.
Course design
The course will start with a series of lectures designed to provide knowledge how nutrition relates to health and will also include a guest lecturer from the Clinical department at Sahlgrens University Hospital. During the course the students will perform an individual dietary assessment to estimate their nutritional status. The laboratory work, - assessment of the effect of different processing conditions on the vitamin C content in broccoli, will be modified into a "dry lab".
The course also addresses health and environmental consequences of dietary habits and during the course there will be a Nutrition/sustainablity debate, to discuss different aspects of sustainable diets. The students will be provided with a few selected topics and publications and choose one publication/topic for discussion within groups of 3-4 students. At the day of the “Nutrition debate”, (May 15th ) each group gives a presentation of their topic/statement ~10 min each (you will be divided into groups that are either for or against), followed by a on-line debate and discussions with the whole class ~20 min.
Changes made since the last occasion
A written test/dugga has been added as an additional examination part at "half-time" of the course, the purpose is to reduce the size of the final exam by having part of the course content examined at a separate occasion.
Learning objectives and syllabus
Learning objectives:
- Give a brief description of major global health issues
- Summarize the most important current evidence-based nutrient recommendations and dietary sources from which these nutrients derive
- Describe methods for dietary assessment
- Describe the mechanical and chemical aspects of digestion and the absorption of nutrients in the gastro-intestinal tract
- List and briefly describe methods for estimation of body composition
- Explain the roles of protein, fat, carbohydrates in the body and their potential impact on health
- State the definition and classification of vitamins and their role in prevention of diseases
- Exemplify major minerals and trace elements and their role in the prevention of diseases
- Explain the strengths and weaknesses of arguments linking diet to particular diseases
- Describe and discuss issues related to how sustainable diets apply to specific foods - impacts of meat and plant based diets
- Describe inter-relationships between climate change, environment, food security and sustainability at a global level
Link to the syllabus on Studieportalen.
Examination form
A written test/dugga has been added as an additional examination part at "half-time". If the test is passed 1 credit is awarded. The final written examination at the end of the course will give 5 credits (if passed), and together the written exams will give 6 credits. The points from the test and the final exam are added together and the total number defines the final grade.
The test/dugga will be in the course room Canvas on April 24 from 09.00.
The final written exam will be on June 1, 14.00-18.00
Attendance
To graduate, the following parts are mandatory :
(i) the written test/dugga and the Final written exam
(ii) the laboratory work report (Vitamin C lab) and Dietary assessment (seminar and report) and
(iii) the Nutrition/Sustainability debate
All parts and oral and written group presentations (with active (on-line) presentations of the individual group members) must be successfully completed to pass the course.
The lab report for the Vitamin C lab should be handed in not later than May 19th
The report for the Dietary assessment should be submitted to the lab supervisors not later than May 29th
If corrections are needed the report should be re-submitted to the lab-supervisors not later than after 2 weeks, thus only one return is allowed. As a motivation to make good reports a system with “extra” credits” added to the written exam will be used.
- If the report is correct the first time this will give 2 credits
- If the report is re-submitted and approved this will give 1 credit
- If the report is corrected and returned more than two weeks after the lab work – no extra credits
Course summary:
| Date | Details | Due |
|---|---|---|