Nutritional Epidemiology

Prerequisite: SAR HS551; Limited to students in the graduate nutrition program. - This course examines epidemiologic methods for investigating the role of diet in long-term health. Students learn to critically review the epidemiologic evidence relating diet, anthropometry, biomarkers, and physical activity to heart disease, cancer, and other chronic health conditions including obesity and diabetes. The methodological issues covered include epidemiologic study design; dietary and nutritional status assessment; issues of bias, confounding, effect modification and measurement error; and interpretation of research findings including an understanding of statistical modeling. Students critically review and present on published research. Students will be able to apply this knowledge to interpret scientific literature and participate in nutrition-related research.