Module Aims

This module aims to engage MPhil students in understanding the relevance of diet and nutrition to population health. The module will cover aspects of nutritional epidemiology including dietary assessment, associations of diet and nutrition with health, public health impact and policy. Through discussions on topical agendas in nutritional epidemiology and dietary public health, this module will advance students’ understanding of the contribution of diet and nutrition in human health and its public health implications in a global context. The module will also enable students to develop their skills to critically appraise publications, evidence and practice in the field of nutritional epidemiology. 

Module Learning Outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to: 

1. Characterise the dietary exposure across diet’s multiple domains, and be able to distinguish between different dietary exposures. 

2. Identify different dietary assessment methods for various research aims and study designs, accounting for strengths, limitations, and feasibility. Students should be able to select the most appropriate dietary assessment methods or tools for a range of contexts and be able to justify the selections. 

3. Interpret dietary data analysed with different statistical approaches typically applied to nutritional epidemiology studies. 

4. Identify and explain challenges in nutritional epidemiology and how they impact quality of evidence and application to public health and policy. 

5. Evaluate research on the relationship between dietary exposures and health outcomes, taking into account issues of exposure measurement, bias and quality of evidence 

6. Assemble a range of relevant evidence to inform public health and policy 

 Pre-requisites

• Principles of Epidemiology
• Principles of Biostatistics

It will be helpful to review the material from the module on Principles of Public Health.

Teaching Strategy

The module will employ a combination of teaching and learning strategies including lectures, practical sessions, small group work, and student presentations, followed by discussion.  Students are encouraged to ask questions and to engage in formulating responses to questions that lecturers raise. Students are also encouraged to provide feedback on the content and the quality of teaching. 

Assessment

Written piece, ~1500 words (100%): The module assessment will provide an opportunity for critical appraisal in nutritional epidemiology, with specific relevance to (i) methodological and interpretive issues and (ii) aspects of communication and action in the field. 

Module Length

4 days