Learning objectives
At the end of the training activity the student will be able to: interpret dietary recommendations; choose and evaluate the best dietary assessment method and instrument according to the assessment purpose; critically and adequately analyse results originating from dietary intake and biomarker assessment; critically evaluate emerging dietary relevant non-nutrient components potentially involved in the preservation of health and on reduction of disease risk; evaluate and use a nutritional database; merge knowledge into the critical evaluation of the risk/benefit ratio intrinsic in human nutrition.
Prerequisites
basic knowledge of Human Nutrition and Nutrition Physiology
Course unit content
The module will deal with methodological aspects of exposure assessment in human nutrition. Specifically, the topics will be: 1) Identification and recognition of Dietary Reference Values, Average Requirement, Population Reference Intake, Adequate Intake, Reference Intake range for macronutrients, Tolerable Upper intake Level, Suggested Dietary Target for populations. 2) Gold standards in dietary assessment for different research questions and study designs, including energy and nutrients, and issues relevant to identification, measurement and validation of biomarkers, including nutritional metabolomics. 3) Statistical methodology to estimate usual intake and uncertainty in dietary assessment. 4) Relevance to human health of nutrients and non-nutrient dietary components. 5) Definition, evaluation and applicability of nutrients and non-nutrients national and international databases. 6) Critical evaluation of the risk/benefit ratio in the framework of human nutrition.
Full programme
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Bibliography
1) Advances in the Assessment of Dietary Intake. Dale A. Schoeller & Margriet S. Westerterp-Plantenga Eds. CRC Press; 2017: Taylor & Francis (London). 2) Selected scientific papers. 3) Notes and slides presented by the teacher
Teaching methods
Teaching will be carried out through classroom lectures and seminars, with the aid of slides that will represent educational material available online on the Elly platform in pdf format for students. During classroms there will be examples of numeric and problem-solving exercises.
Assessment methods and criteria
Final examination will be carried out trough an oral interview, which may include the critical discussion of projects carried out by the student during the semester. The final evaluation, in 30/30 score points, will depend on the assessment of the level of knowledge of the contents discussed during the course, of the ability to use sources of scientific information and on the following aspects:- Knowledge application; - Ability to analyze complex dataset and cases and draw conclusions; - Communication skills; - Ability to gain knowledge. The praise is assigned in the case of reaching the maximum score on each item to which is added the mastery of the disciplinary lexicon. Please note that the online registration for the exam is COMPULSORY.
Other information
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