Food, Nutrition and Health

Offered By: Wageningen University via edX

Course Description

Overview

In this Professional Certificate program, taught by prof. Sander Kersten, a leading global expert in the field of nutrition, you will learn how to analyze and interpret the information overload about nutrition and health to help build a healthier lifestyle for you and/or your patients.

You will learn about the composition of macro- and micronutrients, their role in the body, and their impact on our health. You will get a sound understanding of energy homeostasis and the regulation of bodyweight. Also, you will learn about health problems related to overnutrition and undernutrition. You will learn strategies to improve nutritional status, and combat overnutrition and undernutrition based on scientific knowledge. The program covers everything from fat, protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and water. You will acquire the necessary knowledge, skills and tools to become more critical towards the food and health related messages we’re constantly bombarded with.

This program will also help you develop a critical mindset. You will learn how to distinguish misinformation about food as you discover what is complete nonsense, what has a scientific basis and where the truth is somewhere in between.

This program is especially useful for health care professionals who are looking to update their knowledge and skills about nutrition and people working in the food industry with a non-nutrition background (such as food technology, legal, marketing, HR and communication staff). Health care professionals will benefit by acquiring a solid academic knowledge base in nutrition that will be helpful in their interactions with patients and clients.
Professionals working in the food industry with a non-nutrition background will benefit by gaining a better understanding of foods and nutrients and how they can impact our health, which will useful in the design of new foods and new health claims and will allow for better communication with nutritionists and food scientists within and outside the company.

Continuing education and accreditation
Health care professionals and health associate professionals often require formal qualifications and updated schooling to practice their profession. For some associations, this program may be used for CEUs. Please check with your local organization if the program qualifies.

Syllabus

Courses under this program:
Course 1: Nutrition and Health: Macronutrients and Overnutrition

Learn from the top professors of Wageningen University & Research about macronutrients and overnutrition and how they impact humans. This online course is offered as a MOOC, and is part of the Professional Certificate Pogramme: Nutrition and Health.

Course 2: Nutrition and Health: Micronutrients and Malnutrition

Learn from the top professors of Wageningen University & Research about malnutrition and micronutrients and how they impact your health. This online course is offered as a MOOC, and is part of the Professional Certificate Pogramme: Nutrition and Health.

Courses

343 reviews
9 weeks, 6-8 hours a week, 6-8 hours a week
View details
Food plays a central role in our society but few people actually understand what it does to our bodies. Learn more about nutrition and how our diet profoundly impacts our current and future health. This introductory nutrition course addresses the relationship between nutrition and human health with a focus on health problems related to overnutrition.

In this course, Professor Sander Kersten from Wageningen University will introduce you to the chemistry of the three macronutrients fat, carbohydrate and protein. You will learn how macronutrients are absorbed, stored, and metabolized for energy, and you will gain a contemporary view of how different types of fats, carbohydrates and proteins affect human health. Moreover, the course will cover energy homeostasis and the regulation of bodyweight, and provides ample coverage of the topic of obesity. Finally, it will make you familiar with nutritional research and research methodologies.

For whom?

The MOOC Nutrition and Health: Macronutrients and Overnutrition is especially useful for health care professionals and people working in the food industry with a non-nutrition background. You will develop a critical mindset by learning to better weigh and interpret information about food, nutrition and health.

This course, is part of the Food, Nutrition and Health Professional Certificate Program of Wageningen University & Research. Did you already complete Nutrition and Health: Micronutrients and Malnutrition? That is the other course in the Food, Nutrition and Health Professional Certificate Program. To explore other learning opportunities about nutrition, have a look at the courses:
234 reviews
7 weeks, 6-8 hours a week, 6-8 hours a week
View details
There is an overload of information about nutrition and health, but what is the truth and what can you do to improve the health of your patients? Learn more about nutrition and how our diet profoundly impacts our current and future health. This course addresses the relationship between nutrition and human health, with a focus on health problems related to malnutrition.

In this course, Professor Sander Kersten from Wageningen University & Research will explain about the micronutrient (vitamins, minerals, and trace elements) content of foods. You will learn about their role in the body and their impact on our health. Moreover, this course will discuss how suboptimal nutrition may affect human health, with particular attention to malnutrition and global hunger. You will learn about strategies to improve and combat these problems of malnutrition. Finally, the course will make you familiar with nutritional research and research methodologies.

For whom?

This MOOC is especially useful for health care professionals and people working in the food industry with a non-nutrition background. You will develop a critical mind set by learning to better weigh and interpret information about food, nutrition and health. to improve overall health

This course, is part of the Food, Nutrition and Health Professional Certificate Program of Wageningen University & Research. Did you already complete Nutrition and Health: Macronutrients and Overnutrition? That is the first course in the Food, Nutrition and Health Professional Certificate Program. To explore other learning opportunities about nutrition, have a look at the courses

Taught by

Alida Melse, Inge Brouwer, Guido Hooiveld and Sander Kersten