LLEK10249U *Changed examination form in 2023/24* Evidence, Diet and Health

Volume 2023/2024
Education

MSc Programme in Clinical Nutrition
MSc Programme in Human Nutrition

Content

The focus of the course is how to assess available evidence for a causal relationship between diet and diseases with a main focus on diet, macronutrients and life-style diseases such as cancer, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. The course will provide the students with theoretical teaching in the methodology, several examples and exercises and assignments that gives them opportunity to practise.

Learning Outcome

The main objective of the course is to provide the students with an understanding of basic methods and concepts in nutritional epidemiology, to enable them to assess available evidence for a causal relationship between diet and health.

After completion of the course the students should be able to:

Knowledge:

  • Define epidemiology and causality
  • Describe the epidemiological measures of frequency and association
  • Define and explain the concepts bias, confounding, effect modification, chance, power, validity and generalizability
  • List the study designs, and describe their advantages and limitations in nutritional research


Skills:

  • Demonstrate ability to critically assess the validity of studies on the relation between diet and health
  • Discuss the evidence for causal relationship between diet and health
  • Evaluate strategies for statistical analysis in different types of epidemiological studies



Competences:

  • Perform evidence evaluations of relationships between dietary components and health
  • Identify gaps in current knowledge and contribute to the planning of studies that will make progress
  • Make dietary recommendations based on an evaluation of the evidence
Literature

Course literature will be announced at study start on the course’s Absalon page.

Academic qualifications equivalent to a BSc degree are recommended.
Knowledge and skills in nutrition, physiology, biochemistry, and statistics are recommended.
Theoretical lectures and exercise practice. The objective of course assignments is to use of the principles in evaluation of scientific evidence.
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Lectures
  • 16
  • Preparation
  • 70
  • Exercises
  • 52
  • Exam Preparation
  • 20
  • Exam
  • 48
  • Total
  • 206
Continuous feedback during the course of the semester

We provide a thorough feed-back on all the written assignments mostly in plenum, but also for at least one of the assignments some individual feedback in writing on language as well as content.

Credit
7,5 ECTS
Type of assessment
Oral examination, 20 minutes
Type of assessment details
The oral examination is 20 minutes with 48 hours preparation time. The student will be given two papers 48 hours prior to the oral examination.
Exam registration requirements

Approval of written assignments during the course.

Aid
All aids allowed
Marking scale
7-point grading scale
Censorship form
No external censorship
Several internal examiners
Re-exam

Same as the ordinary exam.


The requirements for registration can be fulfilled before re-exam. All assignments must be handed in no later than 3 weeks before reexamination. Assignments must be approved.

Criteria for exam assesment

Please see "Learning Outcome"