Undergraduate - UnitBND1002 - Evaluating the evidence: Nutrition and population health

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2014 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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12 points, SCA Band 2, 0.250 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered, or view unit timetables.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences
Organisational Unit	Department of Nutrition and Dietetics
Offered	Clayton Second semester 2014 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Dr Claire Palermo

Synopsis

This unit will introduce students to epidemiology and biostatistics as the core of population health and nutrition research and practice. This will include consideration of basic statistics, study design, quantitative and qualitative methods of inquiry and ethical issues related to research and population health interventions. Emphasis is placed on a population view of health, nutrition and disease and the social determinants of health and the application of epidemiology and statistics in assessment of disease in population and the effects of nutrition interventions. An introduction to the concepts and approaches to working in population health and nutrition will also be explored

Outcomes

At the completion of this unit, students will be able to:

Interpret the demographics of the Australian population including indigenous, minority and disadvantaged groups
Summarise the Australian health system and the political system and its operation at a national state and local level and outline the roles of the major bodies that provide government with scientific advice relating to food and also to health
Identify and describe the main socio-cultural, economic, environmental and political determinants of health
Define public health and discuss the origins and nature of public health as a discipline
Compare and contrast the social versus the medical model of health and explain primary, secondary and tertiary prevention paradigms and strategies for individuals and populations
Explain and compare the main study designs used in population health and nutrition research and explain the findings of key population health studies on the relationship between diet and chronic disease
Perform basic methods of qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis
Search the scientific literature related to common questions on nutrition and health
Explain common methods used to survey the nutrient intake and the nutritional status of populations.