LLEK10251 International Nutrition and Health

Details
Responsible DepartmentDepartment of Human Nutrition

Earliest Possible YearMSc. 1 year to MSc. 2 year
DurationOne block
 
Credits7.5 (ECTS)
 
Level of CourseMSc
 
ExaminationFinal Examination

written examination


All aids allowed

Description of Examination: The student will be given some papers and questions they have to consider in their answer. They have 48h to do the task in which they are allowed to use all papers from the course, notes, internet and to discuss, but each student has to make an individual answer and they are not allowed to copy writing from other students. The evaluation will consider skills mainly from the strength of the arguments and an overall evaluation of the answer. The final answer must be uploaded within 48 h.

Weight: 100%



7-point scale, internal examiner
 
Requirement for Attending ExamAcknowledged reports on theoretical exercises and case studies to be handed in on time and accepted.
 
Organisation of TeachingLectures, exercises incl. cases, group-based project.
 
Block PlacementBlock 1
Week Structure: A
 
Language of InstructionEnglish
 
Optional PrerequisitesLLEK10264 
Nutrition Physiology
 
RestrictionsNone
 
Course Content
Overall course content:
- Basic concepts of food and nutrition security.
- Major nutrition-related health problems in low-income populations and vulnerable subgroups.
- Characteristics of individuals and populations suffering from malnutrition.
- Actions for prevention and treatment of malnutrition using a food based approach.
- Actions for improving food and nutrition security.

Specific components in relation to developing countries:
- Malnutrition through the life cycle.
- Agriculture and food and nutrition security
- Food diversity.
- Nutrition and infections.
- The nutrition transition.
- Nutrition in emergencies.
- Prevention and treatment of severe undernutrition.
- Research methodologies.
- Strategies and programs to improve food and nutrition security.

This course can with advantage be taken together with the course "Nutrition, growth and development" (270084).
 
Teaching and learning Methods
Lectures will be given on key topics such as food and nutrition security, life cycle nutrition and reproductive health, infectious and chronic diseases, and severe undernutrition. The students will individually and in groups work on exercises and case studies, and present in plenary, to exemplify the key concepts and to stimulate active participation of the students. During the last half of the course, the students will work in groups on a problem-based project within the theme of the course. Students will prepare an individual report based on the group work.
 
Learning Outcome
Learning outcome description
The main objective of the course is to provide the student with the concepts of food and nutrition security, and knowledge/understanding of nutrition-related health problems in low-income populations.

After completing the course the student should be able to:

Knowledge:
- Define food and nutrition security.
- Describe the UNICEF conceptual framework of determinants of undernutrition.
- List the most vulnerable groups.
- List the different strategies to reduce undernutrition, and their strength and limitations
- Summarise the theory of development transition.
- Describe the major nutrition problems in low-income populations.
- Describe manifestations of specific nutritional deficiencies and severe acute malnutrition
- Describe the major nutrition-related health problems in low-income populations.
- Summarise the benefits of breastfeeding, and the risk in relation to HIV infection
- Describe the current infant feeding recommendations.
- Describe the background and advantages of the new WHO growth curves.


Skills:
- Demonstrate ability to identify and read literature on specific nutrition-related problem in a specific low-income population.
- Demonstrate ability to assess the nutritional status of a group of children using growth curves.
- Demonstrate ability to handle a data set with growth and other nutritional variables


Competences:
- Cooperate interdisciplinary with fellow students on appropriate actions to alleviate food and nutrition insecurity and nutrition-related health-problems.
- Discuss the double burden of malnutrition and the different approaches to reduce the problem.
- Take responsibility for analysing nutritional data
- Reflect on the ethical dimensions of local and global actions to improve nutrition.
 
Course Literature
A compendium will be for sale at the start of the course.
 
Course Coordinator
Henrik Friis, hfr@life.ku.dk, Department of Human Nutrition/Paediatric Nutrition and International Nutrition, Phone: 353-33860
Pernille Kæstel, pern@life.ku.dk, Department of Human Nutrition/Paediatric Nutrition and International Nutrition, Phone: 353-32531
 
Study Board
Study Committee LSN
 
Work Load
lectures40
theoretical exercises30
preparation87
project work30
examination20

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