FOOD SC 7305WT - Public Health Nutrition

Waite Campus - Semester 1 - 2025

This course develops students' understanding of public health nutrition with a focus placed on the importance of building a sustainable, nutritious and healthy food supply for all. Health inequities, as explained by the social determinants of health, and their impact on nutritional health and well-being are covered in detail. Consideration is given to factors which influence consumer food choices, dietary habits and food consumption patterns including social, cultural and environmental factors. An overview of the different types of food systems as well as historical events which have influenced the Australian diet over time, are used to illustrate how people's day-to-day living circumstances can impact on their food choices and consumption patterns. Students are introduced to major nutrition and health policies which underpin intervention programs and initiatives aiming to promote healthy eating behaviours in consumers and/or healthy food production in food industry. Students are required to design and plan a nutrition intervention project around the recommendations of one or more of these policies.

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Course Details

Course Code	FOOD SC 7305WT
Course	Public Health Nutrition
Coordinating Unit	Food Science
Term	Semester 1
Level	Postgraduate Coursework
Location/s	Waite Campus
Units	3
Contact	Up to 6 hours per week
Available for Study Abroad and Exchange	Y

Course Staff

Course Coordinator: Dr Tina Bianco-Miotto

Course Timetable

The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

Course Learning Outcomes

1	Consolidate and extend knowledge and skills in public health nutrition
2	Critically analyse factors which impact on food choices and eating patterns, demonstrating a broad understanding of how these impact on the nutritional health of individuals and populations
3	Investigate food systems and critically examine the development of sustainable and healthy food supplies
4	Translate and apply current food and nutrition policies and initiatives to real-world contexts
5	Formulate and design an innovative food and nutrition intervention project
6	Extend communication skills to present clear, coherent expositions of knowledge and ideas both collaboratively and independently

University Graduate Attributes

This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

University Graduate Attribute	Course Learning Outcome(s)
Attribute 1: Deep discipline knowledge and intellectual breadth Graduates have comprehensive knowledge and understanding of their subject area, the ability to engage with different traditions of thought, and the ability to apply their knowledge in practice including in multi-disciplinary or multi-professional contexts.	1-6
Attribute 2: Creative and critical thinking, and problem solving Graduates are effective problems-solvers, able to apply critical, creative and evidence-based thinking to conceive innovative responses to future challenges.	1-6
Attribute 3: Teamwork and communication skills Graduates convey ideas and information effectively to a range of audiences for a variety of purposes and contribute in a positive and collaborative manner to achieving common goals.	1-6
Attribute 4: Professionalism and leadership readiness Graduates engage in professional behaviour and have the potential to be entrepreneurial and take leadership roles in their chosen occupations or careers and communities.	3-6
Attribute 5: Intercultural and ethical competency Graduates are responsible and effective global citizens whose personal values and practices are consistent with their roles as responsible members of society.	1-6
Attribute 6: Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural competency Graduates have an understanding of, and respect for, Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander values, culture and knowledge.	2-6
Attribute 8: Self-awareness and emotional intelligence Graduates are self-aware and reflective; they are flexible and resilient and have the capacity to accept and give constructive feedback; they act with integrity and take responsibility for their actions.	2-6

Learning & Teaching Activities

Learning & Teaching Modes

Lectures are used to deliver content relevant to the specified course objectives. Lectures include the opportunity for open discussion, questions and problem solving activities.

Tutorials aim to develop and support the material covered in the lectures as well as provide a forum for acquiring skills and knowledge necessary to complete the assessment tasks. The tutorials take the form of class discussions, demonstrations and problem-solving activities.

Practicals aim to apply the knowledge and skills covered in the lectures and tutorials linking principals of health and nutrition policies to practice in community-based food service organisations/businesses.

Workload

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

A student enrolled in a 3 unit course, such as this, should expect to spend, on average 12 hours per week on the studies required. This includes both the formal contact time required to the course (e.g., lectures and practicals), as well as non-contact time (e.g., reading and revision).

Learning Activities Summary

Lecture Topics Include:
• Defining Health & Introducing Public Health Nutrition (x2)
• Social Determinants of Health & Impact on Nutritional Status (x2)
• Nutrition Intervention Programs – Designing, implementing & evaluation (x2)
• Food Systems, Building a Healthy Sustainable Food Supply (x2)
• Food choices, Food, Culture, Behaviour & Health (x2)
• Indigenous Communities – Factors which affect food intake, Food supply issues (x2)
• History of Food in Australia (x2)
• Health & Nutrition Policies, Nutrition Intervention Programs – Case Studies (x8)
• Health Claims and food regulation (2)

Practical Sessions:
• 3 x 2 hour session. Applying Nutrition Intervention Policies to Food Service: working in pairs, students are provided with two different nutrition intervention policies and two working menus from organisations required to comply with these policies. Students are required to modify the menus so that they fully comply with the relevant nutrition intervention policy as well as other relevant information provided. Students are required to record and justify all modifications made to the menu, and to answer questions in the practical booklet.

Tutorials include:
• Assessments, feedback and exam revision (x3)
• Group activities on planning nutrition interventions, food systems, different cultures, Indigenous communities, traditional foods and food labelling (6)

Specific Course Requirements

Minimum requirements for passing the Public Health Nutrition lll:

To pass, students must gain an overall mark of at least 50% for the course.
Failure to meet the above minimum requirements for the course will result in a student failing the course or being offered a supplementary assessment task(s).

Students are expected to attend tutorials and practicals.

The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
Assessment must maintain academic standards.

Assessment Summary

Assessment Task	Type of Assessment	Percentage of Total Assessment for Grading Purposes	Hurdle Yes or No	Outcomes being Assessment/ Achieved	Approximate Timing of Assessment
Online test	Summative & Formative	10%	No	1-4,6	Week 5
Tutorial Group Tasks x 5	Summative & Formative	10%	No	1-6	Week 3,4,5,6 & 11
Practical Report	Summative & Formative	20%	No	1-6	Week 9
Written Assignment	Summative & Formative	30%	No	1-6	Week 12
Exam	Summative	30%	No	1-6	End of semester, during official exam period

Assessment Detail

ONLINE TEST (10%)
There will be an online test examining students’ knowledge and understanding of fundamental concepts in public health nutrition covered in the first few weeks of lectures and tutorials including defining public health nutrition; social determinants of health and their impact on nutritional status; planning, implementing and evaluating nutrition intervention programs. The test will consist of a mixture of multiple choice, matching and true/false questions and will take no more than 45 minutes to complete.

TUTORIAL GROUP TASKS (10%)
There will be five group tasks (2% each), one at each of the group activity tutorials. Students will be assigned to a small group for these tasks at the beginning of the course and will be required to work in their assigned group during the tutorials. A list of questions, assessing students’ understanding and application of knowledge covered in lectures, will be provided to each group at the beginning of the tutorials. Each group will discuss their answer for one of the questions on the list (assigned by tutors) with the class and each student will also be required to hand in their answer sheet at the end of the sessions.

PRACTICAL REPORT – Applying nutrition intervention policies to food service (20%)
Working in pairs, students are provided with two different nutrition intervention policies and two working menus from organisations required to comply with these policies. Students are required to modify the menus so that they fully comply with the relevant nutrition intervention policy as well as other relevant information provided. Students are required to record and justify all modifications made to the menu, and to answer questions in the practical booklet. This assessment examines student’s ability to analyse and interpret data, their understanding of the knowledge covered in lectures and their ability to apply the knowledge in practice.

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT (30%)
Students are required to design and plan a nutrition intervention project around the recommendations of at least one current health and nutrition policy, using knowledge covered in lectures and tutorials.
The proposal must include an overview of the relevant health and nutrition policy, provide a convincing rationale for the proposed project including a needs assessment and project objective, include details of the target audience/stakeholders, an outline of the steps involved and explain how the expected outcomes are to be measured. The project must include an appropriate evaluation strategy.
This assessment provides students with an opportunity to further develop skills and knowledge necessary to research, plan and critically evaluate nutrition intervention programs while increasing their understanding of the important links between policy principals and practice. Students will have the semester to complete this task, with feedback provided part-way through the course on initial stages of their proposal. Length of the report is 2000 words.

EXAM (30%)
The final exam will examine all components of the course. It will consist of short and long answer questions.

Submission

No information currently available.

Course Grading

Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
Grade	Mark	Description
FNS		Fail No Submission
F	1-49	Fail
P	50-64	Pass
C	65-74	Credit
D	75-84	Distinction
HD	85-100	High Distinction
CN		Continuing
NFE		No Formal Examination
RP		Result Pending

Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

Student Feedback

The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.
Student Support
Policies & Guidelines
This section contains links to relevant assessment-related policies and guidelines - all university policies.
Fraud Awareness

Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student’s disciplinary procedures.

The University of Adelaide is committed to regular reviews of the courses and programs it offers to students. The University of Adelaide therefore reserves the right to discontinue or vary programs and courses without notice. Please read the important information contained in the disclaimer.

Authorised by:	Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Academic)
Maintained by:	Course Outlines Administrator