TM5580 - Public Health Nutrition

Credit points:	03
Year:	2013
Student Contribution Band:	Band 2
Administered by:	Sch Public Health,Trop Medicine&Rehabilitation Sc

Good nutrition is a prerequisite for health and development in early life and good health in adult life, however nutrition related diseases are a major part of the global burden of disease. Under-nutrition and dietary deficiency diseases continue to be important issues, especially in low income settings, but the current pandemic of overweight, obesity and associated chronic disease, challenges health, well-being, development and prosperity in low income as well as wealthy countries. Previously described as diseases of affluence, poor nutrition and chronic diseases are now recognised as being linked to poverty and disadvantage. In Australia the prevalence of overweight and obesity, and associated chronic disease, is particularly high among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Nutrition related diseases result from the interaction between people, their food supply and their physical, social and economic environment. This subject will explore those interactions, the dietary patterns which are protective of health, those which are detrimental to health, and the food and nutrition policy and interventions required for a sustainable, appropriate food supply, for food security, for improved nutrition and health, and for prevention of chronic disease.

Learning Outcomes

• describe nutrient requirements for different gender/age groups, and the short term and long term effects of poor nutrition;
• identify dietary patterns consistent with good health and with poor health, and the evidence base underlying current dietary guidelines;
• conduct and interpret nutrition monitoring and surveillance of the population(s) and specific groups, using key anthropometric, nutrition and food security indicators;
• analyse the main factors impacting on food supply and food security contributing to poor nutrition, overweight and obesity, particularly in northern Australia and the neighbouring region;
• appraise and evaluate effective public health nutrition and chronic disease prevention strategies/interventions.

Graduate Qualities

• The ability to adapt knowledge to new situations;
• The ability to define and to solve problems in at least one discipline area;
• The ability to think critically, to analyse and evaluate claims, evidence and arguments, and to reason and deploy evidence clearly and logically;
• The ability to deploy critically evaluated information to practical ends;
• The ability to find and access information using appropriate media and technologies;
• The ability to evaluate that information;
• An understanding of the economic, legal, ethical, social and cultural issues involved in the use of information;
• The ability to select and organise information and to communicate it accurately, cogently, coherently, creatively and ethically;
• The acquisition of coherent and disciplined sets of skills, knowledge, values and professional ethics from at least one discipline area;
• The ability to read complex and demanding texts accurately, critically and insightfully;
• The ability to speak and write clearly, coherently and creatively;
• The ability to generate, calculate, interpret and communicate numerical information in ways appropriate to a given discipline or discourse;
• The ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences;
• The ability to work with people of different gender, age, ethnicity, culture, religion and political persuasion;
• The ability to work individually and independently;
• The ability to use online technologies effectively and ethically.

Assumed Knowledge:	N/A
Prerequisites:	N/A
Corequisites:	N/A
Inadmissible Subject Combinations:	N/A

Availabilities
Cairns, Limited, Study Period 2
Census Date 29-Aug-2013
Face to face teaching 04-Nov-2013 to 08-Nov-2013
Coordinator:	Ms Melinda Hammond, Ms Dympna Leonard
Lecturers:	Ms Melinda Hammond, Ms Dympna Leonard.
Contact hours:	30 hours lectures - There will be 30 hours of face-to-face lecture, tutorial and practical in a mini-block format (i.e. 1 week) the rest will be provided externally.
Assessment:	end of semester exam (40%); presentations (20%); assignments (40%).
Restrictions:	An enrolment quota applies to this offering.

Note: Minor variations might occur due to the continuous Subject quality improvement process, and in case of minor variation(s) in assessment details, the Subject Outline represents the latest official information.