Program Overview

NUTR302 - Diet, Health and Disease

Year

2021

Credit Points

10

Campus Offering

No unit offerings are currently available for this unit.

Unit Rationale, Description, and Aim

Nutrition plays a role in the aetiology, prevention, and management of many diseases, and an understanding of this role is essential for a variety of nutrition-related professional practice. Building on NUTR202 Lifespan Nutrition, this unit further explores the role of poor nutrition in promoting the progression of metabolic abnormalities and diseases, the protective role of appropriate nutritional habits, and the role of diet in the management of disease.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

• Articulate the evidence-based relationships between food and nutrition-related factors and the mechanisms and progression, protection/prevention, and management of specific diseases in humans.
• Integrate knowledge of food and nutrition-related factors related to health and disease and communicate to a scientific and non-scientific audience.
• Appraise the scientific literature for specific conditions and propose a suitable dietary intervention.
• Appraise and apply appropriate methods used for assessing nutritional status and collecting dietary data in practice and nutrition research.

Graduate Attributes

• GA4: Think critically and reflectively.
• GA5: Demonstrate values, knowledge, skills, and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession.
• GA8: Locate, organize, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate information.
• GA9: Demonstrate effective communication in oral and written English language and visual media.

Content

Topics will include:

• The immune system, inflammatory response, and development of chronic disease.
• Obesity, including regulation of energy balance, health consequences, and best practice dietary interventions.
• Metabolic syndrome and its definition, health consequences, and best practice dietary interventions.
• Cardiovascular disease, including atheroma pathophysiology, lipoprotein metabolism, and dietary management.
• Type 2 diabetes and the role of diet and physiological mechanisms in its pathogenesis and treatment.
• Cancer and dietary components as indicators, promoters, or protective agents.
• Respiratory conditions.
• Allergies and intolerances.
• Gut microbiome and diet.
• Other conditions throughout the life stages, e.g., cystic fibrosis, coeliac disease, PKU, arthritis, osteoporosis.
• Nutrigenomics, nutrient-gene interactions.
• The role of nutrients in the brain and relationship to specific mental health pathologies.
• Evidence-based best-practice dietary interventions.
• Advanced theory and application of nutrition assessment, including dietary assessment and evaluation.

Learning and Teaching Strategy and Rationale

The learning and teaching strategy adopted comprises three phases designed to provide students with a developmental learning experience. The unit begins with approaches designed to support acquisition of the advanced knowledge needed to understand the relationship between diet, health, and disease, and intervention strategies for prevention and management.

Assessment Strategy and Rationale

In order to best enable students to achieve unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes, standards-based assessment is utilized, consistent with University assessment requirements. A range of assessment strategies are used in ways that support the developmental sequence of the learning and teaching strategy.

Overview of Assessments

• Factsheet: Enables students to demonstrate the ability to apply and communicate evidence-based knowledge and understanding. (20%)
• Written report: Enables students to demonstrate their understanding of nutrition science and translation to practice by interpreting evidence-based knowledge and producing a scientific-style report. (40%)
• Examination: Enables students to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of unit content. (40%)

Representative Texts and References

• Byrd-Bredbenner, C. (2012) Wardlaw's Perspectives in Nutrition, 9th Edition, McGraw Hill, Boston.
• Mahan, K.L., Raymond, J.L., Escott-Stump S. (2011) Krause's Food & the Nutrition Care Process (13th Ed.), Elsevier - Health Sciences Division, Philadelphia.
• Mann, J. and Truswell, A.S. (2012) Essentials of Human Nutrition, 4th edition, Oxford, New York.
• Whitney, E.N., Crowe, T., S., Cameron-Smith, D., Walsh, A., and Rady Rolfes, S. (2014) Understanding Nutrition, Australian and New Zealand Edition (2nd Ed.), South Melbourne, Australia: Cengage Learning Australia.