Assessment of Dietary Intake

The courses of Nutritional Epidemiology and Public Health are interesting for professionals who are conducting or using nutritional and/or health/disease research among various research target groups like patients, elderly or f.i. regional populations. It is also suitable for teachers in nutrition and/or health education, policy makers of (inter)national organisations or governments, managers of food or pharma industries that develop specific (medical) nutrition for target groups and the courses are furthermore open to anyone who wants to engage a career in the work field of nutritional epidemiology and public health.

Prerequisite knowledge:

To be able to pass the Master level online exam it is wise to start this course with a BSc level in a nutritional or health related education with a good background in statistics.

• Describe different available dietary assessment methods (e.g., 24-hour recalls, food frequency questionnaires, food records, dietary history)
• Explain the principles of the different available dietary assessment methods (e.g., estimation portion sizes, assessment nutrient or food intake, type of intake (actual, long-term intake), used reference period (day, month, year), conversion nutrients)
• Create a food frequency questionnaire
• Describe the types of errors in dietary assessment methods (e.g., response error, coding error, classification error, portion size error, errors in food composition tables, seasons, time)
• Explain when a type of error is systematic or random
• Differentiate the extent of each type of error in and between dietary assessment methods
• Choose an appropriate dietary assessment method considering aim, type of information, target group, reference period, comparability with earlier studies, time, and finances
• Interpret intake data derived from different dietary assessment methods by considering the errors and choices made (e.g., overestimation or underestimation, systematic or random, extent)

In this online master's course, you obtain a deeper understanding of dietary assessment. You will become familiar with the several dietary intake methods that are available, the errors related to dietary assessment, choosing an appropriate dietary assessment method, and interpreting dietary intake data. You will also learn to develop a food frequency questionnaire, a dietary assessment method.

Activities

This course is an online course at master level that you follow in a cohort. Learners participate at different time points and from different time zones, as most learners also have a job. The programme therefor offers learning activities that allow you to supervised self-study at your own pace, with deadlines for assignments, and can include knowledge clips, e-learning modules, online individual and group exercises and assignments, online discussions, and in some courses occasionally live question hours through MS Teams at specific dates and times. There are no online live classes. The exam has a fixed date.

This course is quite time-intensive and requires approximately 20 hours per week for the average participant. There are assignments with deadlines.

Literature

+Willett, W. (2013). Nutritional Epidemiology. Oxford: Oxford university press

+Erdman JW, Macdonald IA, Zeisel SH. Present knowledge in nutrition 2010, 10th edition: Chapter 59. (this may be replaced by an updated chapter).

Literature will be made available through the online learning environment.

Upon successful completion - passing the exam -, a digital Micro-credentials certificate (EduBadge) with 3 study credits (ECTS) is issued. The EduBadge certifies the learning outcomes of short-term learning experiences, marking the quality of a course.

+Remote proctored exam with closed and open questions

+Develop Food Frequency Questionnaires (FFQ) Assignments are made individually

Participation in the exam is optional. If you decide not to participate in the exam, you do not qualify for a certificate and/or micro-credential.