MAPHN4200 Public Health Nutrition Policies and Interventions Course description

Language of instruction: English

This course builds on MAPHN4100 - National and Global Nutrition Challenges, where the student learned to analyse current food and nutrition challenges. The course will enable the students to plan, develop, implement and evaluate policy and programmes aimed at improving the diet and nutrition situation among different population groups. It provides a broad basis for being able to apply important theories, models and strategies in in nutrition-related health promotion. The course gives the students an insight into how food and nutrition policies and interventions are developed and which actors are relevant at the local, national and global level.

MAPHN4100 - National and Global Nutrition Challenges.

The student must have been admitted to the Master’s Programme in Health Sciences - Specialisation in Public Health Nutrition.

After completing the course, the student should have the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge

The student

• can identify the roles of various institutions (government and non-government) in shaping public health nutrition policies, nationally and globally
• can discuss the political and cultural context shaping the development of health promotion, nationally and globally
• can critically assess different strategies for improving diet and nutrition in populations based on criteria such as efficiency, safeguarding of cultural, social, ethical and sustainability considerations and users' involvement
• can give account for relevant regulations concerning food and health information and claims

Skills

The student

• can apply recognized theories, models and methods to develop, implement and evaluate nutrition interventions adapted to different population groups

General competence

The student

• can assess whether cultural, social and sustainability considerations are addressed in food and nutrition policies and interventions

The course will use varied, student-active work methods. The course uses a blended learning approach that combines digital learning resources (e.g. videos, lectures and knowledge tests) and teaching on campus. There will be four weeks with teaching on campus, with three teaching day each week.. Students will also have a short observation internship (from one to five days) at a relevant workplace. Students must schedule this themselves based on a list of available institutions and organisations. The students will choose a topic from a selection of topics at the first session, and work with this independently or in groups until the final oral presentation, with assignment submissions throughout the course.

The following must have been approved in order for the student to take the examination:

• A reflection note of up to 1,000 words, or a video/audio file of up to five minutes from the three-day observation internship at a relevant workplace.
• A report consisting of three compulsory assignments (ideally in groups of two to three persons) in the form of the development of a nutrition intervention aimed at a chosen target group:
  • In the first assignment the students have to describe the aim and the background of the chosen nutrition intervention in the form of a written work of up to 1,000 words.
  • The second assignment is an oral presentation of the theoretical framework in the form of a written work of up to 1,000 words.
  • The last assignment is a plan that includes monitoring and evaluation in the form of a written work of up to 1,000 words.
  • All the written notes will be also presented orally.

Individual home-examination over 48 hours .

The course is taught in English. Students may also choose to write/conduct the examination in a Scandinavian language (Norwegian, Swedish or Danish).

All aids are permitted, as long as the rules for source referencing are complied with.

Grade scale A-F.

All answers are assessed by one examiner.

An external examiner is used regularly, at a minimum of every third completion of the course. When selecting answers for external evaluation, a minimum of 10 percent of the answers shall be included, with no fewer than 5 answers. The external examiner’s assessment of the selected answers shall benefit all students.

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