Nutrition BSc (Hons)

This foundational module explores the anatomy and physiology of major organ systems and introduces key biological and biochemical principles relevant to nutrition and health. You'll study homeostasis, neural and hormonal control, metabolism, energy balance, digestion, respiration, and circulation. The module covers genetics, epigenetics, and how nutrients influence gene expression and cellular function. You’ll also explore enzyme activity, biomolecules, and the chemical and structural foundations of cells. Practical skills in data processing and lab techniques are developed throughout. This module provides essential scientific knowledge to understand how the body functions—and how nutrition and the environment shape health and disease.

Module content will include:

• The anatomy and physiology of major organ systems.  
• Principles of haematology and immunology 
• Homeostasis and feedback systems, principles of electrical and chemical signalling Metabolism, metabolic rate and temperature regulation 
• Body composition and energy balance 
• Energy input: feeding strategies, food materials, intake, digestion and absorption Respiration: gas exchange, ventilation systems; transport of respiratory gases 
• Transport systems: open and closed circulation; principles of flow and pressure; circulatory control Water balance and excretion 
• Neurons and synapses; development and transmission of action potentials 
• Nerve pathways; development of nervous systems; major vertebrate brain centres Sense organs: general and special senses 
• Muscles: mechanism of contraction 
• Endocrine system: neuro-endocrine integration; main endocrine glands Integration of control and response to the environment 
• Principles of genetics and the effect of food, nutrients and the environment on gene expression such as epigenetics. 
• Impact of nutrients on cellular mechanisms, including gene expression. Understanding the genetic basis of disease. 
• Structure and function of major biomolecules 
• Metabolism and metabolic pathways 
• Practical techniques and data processing  
• Action and properties of enzymes and coenzymes 
• Introduction to key concepts in Chemistry 
• Introduction to cellular structure & function

This engaging module introduces key concepts in human nutrition through three interconnected units. First, Science of Energy and Nutrients explores essential macronutrients, micronutrients, energy balance, and the gut microbiome, laying a strong scientific foundation. Next, Nutritional (A–F) Assessment teaches you how to measure and interpret body composition, diet, and clinical indicators—translating nutritional theory into real-world health insights. Finally, Applied Nutrition looks at nutrition across the lifecycle—from early development to menopause—alongside the role of epidemiology. Designed around the BDA curriculum, this module helps you build the skills and knowledge to understand, assess, and apply nutritional science in diverse contexts.

This module is divided into the following three ‘units’. Units are then divided into ‘topics’ as outlined below.

1. Science of Energy and Nutrients
This section covers macronutrients and micronutrients as appropriate for Level 4 and forms the basis for the subject content.

1.1. Introduction and Key Concepts

1.2. Energy Balance, Hunger, and Appetite

1.3. Nutritional aspects of carbohydrates

1.4. Nutritional aspects of protein

1.5. Nutritional aspects of lipids

1.6. Non-nutrient components

1.7. Key Concepts in Micronutrients

1.8. Vitamins A, D, E, K

1.9. Divalents and Iodine

1.10. B Vitamins

1.11. Dietary Reference Values

1.12. The Gut Microbiome

2. The Nutritional (A-F) Assessment
This section introduces students to the use of assessment methods in human nutrition, including anthropometrics, energy expenditure, and environmental influences. It allows students to understand how the science of nutrition translates to body composition and function.

2.1. Anthropometry

2.2. Biochemistry

2.3. Clinical

2.4. Dietary

2.5. Environmental

2.6. Functional

3. Applied Nutrition
This section covers nutrition through the lifecycle and other applications determined by BDA curriculum framework.

3.1. Lifecycle Nutrition: Foetal origins of disease

3.2. Lifecycle Nutrition: Infants and early years

3.3. Lifecycle Nutrition: Menopause

3.4. Nutritional epidemiology

This skills-focused module equips you with essential academic and professional tools for success in nutrition and life sciences. You'll explore how to search, read, and reference scientific literature using APA style and tools like EndNote or Zotero. You'll build confidence in written, oral, and visual communication, alongside key IT and presentation skills. Through data analysis, you'll develop your understanding of statistics and qualitative methods. Critical thinking is central—learning to evaluate evidence and arguments effectively. Finally, you’ll enhance your professional development with skills in time management, ethics, teamwork, and academic integrity—helping you thrive both at university and in future careers.

The module content will include:

• Literature & referencing skills:
  • Types of scientific literature and different writing styles
  • Literature searching skills
  • Reading academic literature
  • When and how to reference (APA referencing style)
  • Use of reference management software (e.g. EndNote, Zotero)
• Communication, presentation and IT skills:
  • Data presentation
  • Forms of academic writing within life sciences and the use of appropriate scientific language
  • Report writing (Word processing)
  • Oral presentation skills (PowerPoint including audio capture function)
  • Poster presentations
• Data analysis skills:
  • Descriptive statistics
  • Inferential statistics
  • Qualitative inquiry including framework analysis
• Professional development skills:
  • Academic integrity policy
  • Research ethics
  • Independent and group work
  • Time and task management
  • Note-taking skills
  • Revision skills
  • Professional practice
• Critical Thinking skills:
  • Assessing credibility and plausibility of claims
  • Neutrality, reputation, and bias
  • Strength/weakness of arguments
  • Recognising sound vs flawed logical reasoning

This module explores the complex world of food systems and consumer behaviour, linking food production to nutrition and public health. You'll examine how food moves from farm to fork, covering sustainability, policy, food labelling, and waste. Learn about production methods, UK food landscapes, and the influence of stakeholders and lobbyists. Delving into the consumer side, you'll explore food choice, marketing, safety, and communication methods. The final section focuses on foods, nutrients, and dietary patterns, teaching you about meal planning, portion sizes, sustainability, and the use of tools like Nutritics—preparing you to analyse and design diets in real-world, practical contexts.

Module content will include:

• Food systems (including from farm to fork)
  • Definition of food systems and types (including environmental sustainability)
  • Stakeholders (including food supply chain)
  • Processes of food production, processing and preservation
  • Access to and availability of food (including food production landscape in the UK)
  • Methods of food production (including emerging methods and systems)
  • Food labelling (including health and nutrition claims)
  • Food policy and strategy stakeholders, lobbyists and processes (including UK National Food Strategy)
  • Food catering in different settings
  • Food waste in the food system
• The consumer
  • Determinants of food choice
  • Consumer groups and types
  • Food product development and marketing
  • Sensory evaluation
  • Food waste at the consumer end
  • Food trends
  • Methods of consumer education and communication (e.g. brochures, infographics, leaflets, presentations, etc)
  • Aspects of food safety and food hygiene
• Foods, nutrients and dietary patterns
  • Food groups and food types and the main nutrients they contain
  • Foods and nutrients in food technology and food science context
  • Definition of dietary patterns and types
  • Meal planning and recipe development (including use of Nutritics for analysis and food labelling)
  • Food portion sizes
  • Environmental sustainability and costings of dietary patterns

This module offers an in-depth exploration of how food and nutrients influence the development and management of major health conditions. You’ll examine the scientific and epidemiological evidence behind diseases such as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular and gastrointestinal disorders, mental health issues, and more. The module also explores how this evidence shapes public health policies and nutrition strategies. Importantly, you'll learn how to translate complex research into clear, practical dietary advice for individuals and the wider population—equipping you with the skills to bridge the gap between science and real-world health promotion.

The module content includes:

• The evidence underpinning role of food and nutrients in the aetiology and management of various conditions (this will (cancer, cardiometabolic disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, renal, gastrointestinal, biliary/hepatic/pancreatic/endocrine, rheumatologic/musculoskeletal and neurological disorders and mental health)
• The epidemiological evidence underpinning public health policies and strategies relating to such conditions
• The translation of scientific evidence into general advice for the population

This comprehensive module delves into the science of nutrients and their role across the human lifespan. You'll explore energy balance, macronutrients and micronutrients—covering their properties, metabolism, functions, and UK dietary intakes. Learn about nutrient requirements, dietary reference values, and non-nutritive bioactive compounds. You'll also gain hands-on knowledge of nutritional assessment methods, including anthropometry, dietary intake analysis, and biochemical markers. The module introduces nutritional epidemiology and how data informs health strategies. Finally, you’ll study nutrition from conception to old age, exploring how diet influences development, disease risk, and healthy ageing—equipping you to apply nutrition science across individual and population contexts.

Module content will include:

• Energy balance
• Macro and micro nutrients: chemical properties, bioavailability, metabolism, biological function, availability and consumption in the UK in relation to their distribution in food. 
• Nutrient requirements: basic concepts, DRVs
• Non-nutritive bioactive components in food 

Nutritional assessment techniques: anthropometry, biochemical and dietary intake approaches at individual and population level.  This will include:

• Applications of various anthropometric measurements in the determination of body composition
• Methods for the measurement of dietary intake: group and individual intake, sampling techniques, retrospective and prospective study designs, analysis and interpretation of data.
• Food composition tables, interpretation and use (including limitations)
• Biochemical determinants of nutritional status with reference to excess or deficient intake
• Epidemiology: introduction to concepts and methods with reference to nutrition and nutrition related diseases

Nutrition through the life span. This will include:

• Pregnancy and reproduction, maternal nutritional status and metabolic adaptations, foetal growth, foetal origins of adult disease. For example, the role of foods, nutrients and environmental influences during conception and gestation on adult disease risk and incidence
• Lactation & neo-natal nutrition, maternal metabolic adaptations, energy/nutrient requirements of lactation, composition of breast milk.
• Early growth, infant feeding, critical periods of growth, growth standards, hormonal and nutritional influences
• Nutritional intake, requirements and dietary guidelines in toddlers and school children
• Puberty -  body composition, nutritional requirements, influences on food choice, obesity / eating disorders   
• Ageing, nutritional influences on degenerative disease and lifespan e.g. bone health, CHD and cancer. 

This module explores the fascinating world of human metabolism, focusing on how the body processes nutrients for energy and function. You’ll examine key anabolic and catabolic pathways, lipoprotein metabolism, and how metabolism is regulated by neural, hormonal, and biochemical signals. Topics include the role of hormones, second messengers, and metabolic control mechanisms like allosteric regulation. You'll study how metabolism adapts in fed, fasted, and starved states, as well as during illness. The module also covers metabolic disorders—such as inborn errors and metabolic syndrome—plus specialised topics like one-carbon metabolism and vitamin D. It provides a strong foundation in applied metabolic science.

• Overview of the major catabolic and anabolic pathways  
• Lipoprotein metabolism  
• Control of metabolic pathways: allosteric effectors, product inhibition etc.      
• Neural and endocrine regulation of metabolic pathways
• Mechanism of hormone action - second messengers, steroid hormones   
• Integration of metabolism: carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism
• Metabolism in the fed and fasted state 
• Metabolic adaptation: starvation
• Metabolic response to disease e.g. cancer, infection  
• Metabolic disorders: (the genetic basis of various diseases (for example inborn errors of metabolism), metabolic syndrome
• One carbon metabolism  
• Vitamin D Metabolism

This dynamic module explores the psychological and sociological influences on health, lifestyle, and eating behaviour. You’ll be introduced to health psychology theories that explain health behaviours, including motivation, personality, and social factors. The module traces the evolution of behaviour change approaches and health promotion strategies, equipping you with practical counselling skills such as motivational interviewing and cognitive behavioural techniques—including the use of telehealth. You’ll also examine the psychology of eating, from everyday habits to disordered behaviours. Finally, sociological perspectives highlight how class, culture, income, and identity shape food choices, alongside the role of organisations in supporting health and wellbeing.

Module content will include:

• Review of psychological and sociological contributions to health, lifestyle, and the impact of long-term health conditions
• Introduction to health psychology, specifically examining factors that affect health behaviours (social cognition models of health, personality factors, motivation, interpersonal communication and group dynamics).
• Historical principles of behaviour change and the modern development of health promotion and health education strategies.
• Practical skills in behaviour change including counselling skills, motivational interviewing, cognitive behavioural techniques, health promotion, and health education to resolve barriers in communication (including telehealth and assistive technologies)
• Psychology of eating behaviour in both normal and disordered eating.
• Review of socio-cultural factors related to food and eating.
• Review of sociology of food and eating; symbolic factors of food and consumption, food as a value system, cultural roles in society.
• Impact of class, ethnicity, income level and social expectation in food choice.
• Role of organisations in delivering health, relevant organisational behaviour.

This module introduces key concepts in research methodology, preparing you to design, conduct, and evaluate studies in nutrition and health. You’ll explore experimental and non-experimental research designs, alongside the role of audits in assessing outcomes. Learn how to conduct critical literature and media reviews, and develop your skills in writing research proposals. The module covers both qualitative and quantitative data analysis, supported by subject-specific statistics. You'll also engage with essential considerations such as research ethics, health and safety, and sustainability—ensuring you can carry out responsible and impactful research in both academic and applied settings.

Module content includes:

• Research methodology and applied research
• Experimental and non-experimental design
• Role and use of audit in evaluating outcomes 
• Literature and/or media review
• Research ethics, health and safety, and issues of sustainability in research
• Proposal writing
• Data analysis - qualitative and quantitative
• Statistics: subject specific

This module gives you the opportunity to undertake an in-depth independent research project with support from an academic supervisor. You may explore a clinically-focused topic with the potential to inform real-world practice. You'll critically engage with both primary scientific sources and secondary literature, building strong evidence-based knowledge. The module also guides you through key research processes—including ethics approval, risk assessment, literature reviewing, and evidence grading. You'll learn how to present your findings effectively, manage your project independently, and apply your research skills in a professional context—developing confidence for future academic or clinical careers.

This module provides a comprehensive overview of major disease processes, covering key terminology, risk factors, classification, and causes of conditions like immune disorders, organ dysfunction, and cancer. You’ll learn about clinical assessment, diagnosis, and medical and surgical treatment options. The module highlights how different physiological systems interact during disease progression and management, including how outcomes are monitored. Importantly, it explores the role of nutrition as a supportive treatment, addressing drug-nutrient interactions. You’ll also study the basics of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, gaining insight into how drugs work in the body and their impact on health and nutrition.

The module content includes:

• Review of the major disease processes and their descriptive terminology.
• Risk factors for, classification and aetiology of the major diseases (e.g. disorders of the immune system, organ dysfunction, cancer)
• Clinical assessment, diagnosis and treatment interventions (medical and surgical) in the management of major diseases and disorders
• Integration of physiological systems and their impact on disease progression and management, including monitoring of measurable outcomes
• Nutrition as an adjunctive treatment in disease management, including drug-nutrient interactions                       
• Principles of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics

This cutting-edge module tackles contemporary challenges in nutrition, food, health, and sustainability. You’ll explore the impact of ultra-processed foods, food processing techniques, and additives on safety, quality, and nutrition. The role of food allergens and industry responses is examined alongside food systems policies and governance. Discover the science behind functional foods and nutraceuticals like probiotics and antioxidants, plus nutrition and health claims on labels. The module highlights environmental connections in the food chain and dives into emerging trends such as personalised nutrition, nutrigenomics, and foodomics. You’ll also explore innovative food production technologies including cellular agriculture, vertical farming, and genetic modification.

Module content will include:

• Contemporary issues in nutrition, food, health and sustainability (e.g. ultra-processed foods, planetary health)
• Effects of food processing on food safety and quality and nutritional quality (e.g. use of food additives).
• Food allergens and the role of the food industry
• Food systems policies and governance
• Functional foods and nutraceuticals (e.g. probiotics, anti-oxidants)
• Nutrition and health claims, including labelling aspects
• The food chain: bioaccumulation, biomagnification and the connection between environment and consumer
• Trends in personalised nutrition (e.g. nutrigenetics, nutrigenomics, epigenomics, metabolomics, microbiomics, nutritional systems biology)
• Trends in food science and technology (e.g. foodomics, ‘digital’ foods, digitalisation of nutrition, tackling food waste, food packaging)
• Trends in food production (e.g. cellular agriculture, aquaculture, agroecology, vertical farming, novel proteins, genetic editing and genetic modification, food biotechnology and food nanotechnology)

This module focuses on the key elements of public health nutrition, covering strategy, policy, and planning to improve population health. You’ll learn how to design, manage, and evaluate health and nutrition programmes and projects. The module emphasises health promotion, primary prevention, and risk management to reduce disease burden. Explore nutrition epidemiology to understand how dietary patterns affect public health outcomes. Effective communication strategies in public health settings are also covered, equipping you to engage communities and stakeholders with impactful nutrition messages that drive behaviour change and support healthier societies.

Module content will include:

• Public health nutrition strategy, policy, planning
• Health and nutrition programme and project management
• Health promotion, primary prevention and risk management 
• Nutrition epidemiology and public health nutrition
• Communication strategies in a public health setting

This module explores the vital link between physical activity, nutrition, and health. You’ll study how nutrients fuel bioenergetics and the body’s physiological and metabolic responses to exercise. Learn about biochemical adaptations that support performance and recovery, alongside key nutritional strategies for sport and exercise, including ergogenic aids. Topics also cover thermoregulation, fluid and electrolyte balance, and exercising in extreme environments. Special populations, physical activity guidelines, and exercise prescription are examined, with a focus on addressing disordered eating and the unique considerations for women in sport—equipping you to apply nutrition and exercise science for diverse health and performance needs.

The module content will include:

• Physical activity and health   
• Role of nutrients in bioenergetics
• Physiological and metabolic responses to exercise.
• Physiological and biochemical adaptations to exercise.   
• Nutritional considerations in sport and exercise 
• Nutritional ergogenic acids
• Thermoregulation, fluid and electrolyte balance
• Exercise in extreme environments
• Nutritional considerations for special populations
• Physical activity guidelines and exercise prescription.
• Disordered eating
• Women and exercise