Health in the School Environment explores childhood obesity and the overall health status of children from early childhood through higher education. Building on work completed in Lifecycle Nutrition, Health Communication, Nutrition Epidemiology, and Nutrition Education Methods I and II, it will apply the science of nutrition to environments where students learn. It will discuss educational programs to nutrition and health policies that are targeted to improve the overall health and well-being of students. Students learn through real-world projects that include writing a paper on how a school menu’s nutrition could be improved, creating a plan for a nutrition education program, and creating an infographic with key facts on an age group’s nutrient and psychological needs.

This course was developed by Dr. Stacey Snelling, who frequently talks with the media on this topic, and is an expert on the Healthy Schools Act and a researcher on its effects.

Course Objectives

• Analyze and demonstrate scientific knowledge in nutrition, consistent with health recommendations, throughout the lifecycle.
• Identify and describe the relationship between dietary patterns and chronic disease.
• Plan a nutrition education program by using all steps of select models and theories and cultural competence.
• Demonstrate the process of translating research and theoretical nutrition concepts into practice through an applied project.

Topics covered include:

• Introduction to school-age health
• Nutrition-related health issues
• School-based nutrition and health standards
• School health policies
• School health programs and initiatives
• School food services
• Social determinants and the school health environment
• Completion of a nutrition-needs infographic
• Planning of a nutrition education program
• Completion of a paper that analyzes a lunch menu’s food choices and nutrition.

Sports Nutrition allows students to translate theory into practice and to relate content to fitness and sports. Included are topics on weight and body composition, eating disorders, and guidelines through proper nutrition. The material covered gives students comprehensive knowledge of nutrition for use in complementary fields focusing on sport and exercise. Projects include following a social media personality to analyze their communication strategy, evaluating a supplement company, creating a real-life weight loss and performance enhancement plan for an athlete, and providing research-based nutrition advice to an athlete based on an assessment of their needs.

Course Objectives

• Define and describe the three main energy pathways, their usage in various sports and exercise conditions, and the substrates utilized in each.
• Explain the metabolic and physiological requirements for each macronutrient and fluids for exercise performance.
• Identify and explain the role of key vitamins, minerals, and electrolytes for athletic performance and recovery.
• Research and debate current controversial topics in the field of nutrition and fitness as related to athletic performance.
• Assess an athlete’s needs to provide research-based advice in improving nutrition and performance.
• Analyze intervention strategies for both eating disorders and sports that involve weight control requirements for participants.

Topics covered include:

• Introduction to sports nutrition
• Metabolism and energy balance
• Energy systems
• Carbohydrates and fat for energy production and sport performance
• Protein in the athlete’s diet
• Vitamins, minerals, and supplements for sports performance
• Fluid and electrolyte requirements during exercise
• Intervention strategies for athletes with weight management concerns and disordered eating
• Beyond competition: How to create a diet and exercise program for life

Resources:

Webinar – Career Spotlight: Sports Nutrition

Strategies in Weight Control addresses the strategies used to assist in reversing the obesity epidemic. Students gain an understanding of the trends of obesity, risk factors associated with being overweight, and chronic disease patterns. Further, strategies of proper weight management are explored on an individual and societal level, looking at current diet trends and evaluating their health implications.

In this course, students will:

• Gain an understanding of the role of energy metabolism in weight maintenance.
• Learn how the brain, gut, fat cells, and genetics interact to regulate weight.
• Expand upon the importance of and recommendations for diet and physical activity in weight management, evaluating the role of each independently.
• Develop the ability to identify both fad diets and supplements to understand the physiologic reasons these diets should be avoided.
• Identify the role of both weight loss drugs and surgeries.
• Develop an understanding of why weight management is important through exploration of the dangers at both ends of the weight spectrum, and how to institute weight management in a meaningful fashion.

Course objectives:

• Describe overweight/obesity trends in the United States and assessment approaches in weight management.
• Explain metabolic and physiological aspects of weight management and the role of energy nutrients in body weight.
• Assess dieting trends and strategies for regulating eating behavior and effectiveness of strategies used.
• Develop weight management programs appropriate for specific audiences.
• Analyze intervention strategies for both eating disorders and sports that involve weight control requirements for participants.

Topics covered include:

• Introduction to weight management and assessment methods
• Energy metabolism and weight management
• Regulators of eating behavior and body weight
• The role of physical activity in weight management
• A healthy diet for weight management
• Beyond diet and exercise: Fads, surgery, drugs, and supplements
• Eating disorders and disordered eating
• Encouraging lifestyle modifications

Nutrition Epidemiology & Research Methods will provide you with a basic understanding of statistical methods and study designs used in nutrition research. The class will define nutrition epidemiology and discuss its role in nutrition education. Topics will include statistical methods, major study designs, methods of dietary assessment, interpretation of nutrition data, and critical assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of nutrition research. Current research studies will be discussed to enhance the understanding of the purpose of nutrition epidemiology as well as its contribution to nutrition education.

In this course, students will:

• Gain a foundation of the statistical methods used in nutrition research and a basic understanding of their appropriate use.
• Develop an understanding of dietary assessment methods, collection, and use in estimating intakes.
• Promote familiarity with biomarkers as assessment tools, and expand upon the important considerations when using biomarkers.
• Encourage an understanding of anthropometric and physical assessment methods.
• Learn to understand nutrition surveillance, and how nutrition research is translated into policy and practice.
• Gain opportunities for collaboration and investigation in an online environment.

Course Objectives

• Assess the use of appropriate study designs in nutrition research.
• Justify the use of various food intake methods in specific studies.
• Interpret complex data from studies of nutritional epidemiology.
• Evaluate the major statistical methods used to analyze data sets.
• Summarize a research paper, describing strengths and weaknesses and determining if conclusions are supported by the data.

Additional topics covered include an introduction to basic statistics, dietary assessment methods, biomarkers in nutrition epidemiology, translating epidemiology findings, and looking at the future of nutrition epidemiology research.

Nutrition Program Design introduces students to advanced principles in program planning for nutrition education activities. Building on nutrition education methods, this course emphasizes the development, implementation, and evaluation of nutrition programs to effectively reduce the risk factors associated with chronic disease and improve health.

In this course, students will:

• Creatively design nutrition programs for health improvement of individuals and groups.
• Apply and synthesize lessons learned from a variety of courses throughout the program of study.
• Collaborate and investigate in an online environment.

Course Objectives

• Identify nutrition-related health issues and concerns and be able to develop appropriate nutrition-related interventions for such issues.
• Apply theories of behavior change to program planning, marketing, implementation, participation, and evaluation.
• Develop a plan for evaluating a program and provide a rationale for selected outcomes.
• Demonstrate the differences between formative and summative evaluation and describe appropriate uses.
• Create a logic model for a nutrition education program and identify the purpose for each step.
• Examine process and impact evaluation in detail, defining when each is to be used and the purpose of use.
• Develop program outcomes and align those outcomes with appropriate assessment methods.

Sample Topics Covered Include:

• Develop a Program Rational
• Writing a Mission Statement, Goal & Objective
• Develop a Multi-Strategy Intervention
• Create a Process Innovation Plan

The purpose of this course is to address three distinct forms of delivering health promotion messages to individual consumers, small groups, and larger populations. We will use the social-ecological perspective as a framework to address communication at individual, interpersonal, organizational, community, and policy levels. No Prerequisites.

In this course, students will:

• Describe the social-ecological model and its influence on health communication.
• Describe the characteristics of an effective social marketing campaign.
• Explain the concepts that define four theories of behavior change and describe how theory is used to influence health communication messaging.
• Explain the factors that influence health literacy.
• Explain the relationship between health policy and health communication.

Course Objectives

• Apply foundational knowledge about effective health communication skills from the micro- to the macro-level.
• Design effective health communication materials for diverse audiences.
• Work collaboratively with a team to create an authentic and compelling social marketing campaign.
• Test documents for readability to improve health literacy and apply results to the creation of health communication materials.
• Advocate for a piece of legislation with a local, state, or US official.

Topics Covered Include:

• Introduction to health communication
• Health behavior theories
• Social Marketing
• Advocacy

Changing Health Behavior provides students with an overview of the theory and application needed for assisting individuals and groups to change lifestyle behaviors related to health promotion. It includes cognitive behavior techniques to change lifestyle behaviors such as smoking, obesity, stress, or diet for the reduction of chronic disease risk. Students deepen their understanding of select theories and practices necessary for effective health behavior change.

This course was developed by Dr. Liz Cotter, whose work focuses on the evaluation of culturally tailored health promotion interventions and whose research has been published in journals such as Eating Behaviors.

Course objectives:

• Identify health concerns relevant to nutrition and eating behaviors, distinguish between health-enhancing and health-compromising behaviors and recommend the correct action(s) needed for treatment.
• Construct a comprehensive plan for intervention/prevention programming focused on behavior change both for themselves and for a group of their choosing.
• Recognize the nature of the stress response in the etiology and course of many health problems and recommend strategies to reduce stress.
• Demonstrate the ability to track and monitor a behavior of your choice, as well as reflect thoughtfully upon your experience engaging in a behavior change and create a plan for sustainable lifelong change.

“What I believe sets health coaching apart from more traditional methods of providing guidance or education is that health coaching encourages the individual to explore and eventually resolve their own ambivalence to change.” – Dr. Liz Cotter

Topics covered include:

• Introduction to health behavior change and health psychology
• The link between stress and health
• Health-enhancing and health-compromising behaviors
• Cognitive-behavioral approaches to health interventions
• Chronic disease management and prevention
• Dynamics of patient/provider communication and interaction
• The in-depth practice of health coaching skills