Background

Population based approaches have been the mainstay of research in the field of nutrition for decades. However, in an age of growing health consciousness and fitness, public health nutrition (PHN) workforce development is increasingly becoming a global focus. In an effort to provide direction to nutrition research in the country and with the objective of contributing towards training future leaders in the field of nutrition, the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) launched a postgraduate program in PHN in the year 2010 for the benefit of all stakeholders. Its debut was met with unprecedented success and positive feedback and it is well posed this year on the academic and knowledge sharing landscape.

Aim and Objectives

This program aims to provide comprehensive training in public health nutrition in a global setting with the choice of specialising in a number of topics and in a range of contexts.

Course Design and Duration

Designed as a one year postgraduate program, the course focuses on the following:

• Fundamentals of food science and nutrition
• Epidemiological methods of research, community nutrition and new innovations in/aspects of nutritional science

Eligibility Criteria

The course is open to the following candidates:

• • Graduates in all disciplines, especially public health, nutrition and medicine.
  • Paramedical personnel, including nurses, social workers, public health educators and health assistants.
  • Researchers from nutrition and allied fields, including clinicians involved in nutrition research.
  • Nutrition program related practitioners in the public and private sectors.

This area of study is particularly suitable for people whose employment overlaps the nutritional area such as health workers, medical practitioners, dieticians, pharmacists, nurses, health educators, teachers and those who wish to avail themselves of contemporary ideas in human nutrition.

Course Contents

This integrated program covers dietary, epidemiological, public health, social and biological aspects of nutritional science. Special topics include bio statistics, maternal and child nutrition, food policy, nutrition program planning, monitoring and evaluation and nutritional epidemiology.

Teaching and Training Methodology

The course will be delivered online i.e., through a mixture of recorded and live interactive sessions that will be conducted by faculty members with students logging in from their location. The greatest advantage of eLearning is that students can learn at their own pace. Course module pdf will be complemented by online lectures (online sessions using power‐point presentations).

Evaluation

Students will be evaluated through a combination of individual module assessments and final online examination at the end of year.