Module manager: Dr Carolyn Auma
Email: c.i.auma@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable
Year running 2026/27
For MSc Nutrition and MSc Food Science and Nutrition, the student should have a relevant Undergraduate qualification in Health and/or Science.
This module is not approved as an Elective
Students will take a closer look at our current understanding of the relationships between diet and health by exploring how different dietary approaches are applied to the prevention and management of specific diseases or conditions, within the scope of practice for an Association for Nutrition (AfN) Associate Registered Nutritionist. Specialist thematic areas that may be covered in the module may typically include, for example, ‘diet & gut health’, ‘diet & cancer’, and ‘diet & diabetes’.
The module aims to:
1. Review the role of nutrition in the pathogenesis and management of specific diseases and/or conditions, e.g., diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, irritable bowel syndrome.
2. Highlight the importance of several determinants, e.g., religious and cultural beliefs, socio-economic, geographical, and environmental factors in shaping and influencing the relationship between populations’ diet and disease outcomes.
3. Promote the students’ ability to critically evaluate and clearly communicate the scientific evidence on the relationship between diet and health to a specified target audience.
On successful completion of the module students should have the ability to:
1. Understand of the role of diet in population-level human health and disease management, including the relevance of current evidence for specific sub-groups, e.g., children, elderly, ethnic minorities.
2. Identify and critically appraise the scientific evidence that forms the basis for current dietary prevention and management principles of specific disease and/or conditions, including the limitations of different recommendations based on the methodological approaches for generating evidence.
3. Communicate aspects relating to the role of diet in human health and disease to specific target audiences.
Skills Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following skills learning outcomes:
1. Academic skills: critical thinking, presentation skills, academic writing, academic language, information searching, academic integrity, referencing (AS2,3,4,5,8-10)
2. Technical skills: subject-specific knowledge, e.g., applications of dietary approaches to the management of some long-term nutrition-related conditions
3. Work ready skills: communication, collaboration, critical thinking, interpersonal skills (WR1,3,9,10)
4. Sustainability skills: critical thinking, information searching (SS3,10)
5. Digital skills (information, data and media literacies; digital communication, collaboration, and participation)
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following skills learning outcomes:
1. Academic skills: critical thinking, presentation skills, academic writing, academic language, information searching, academic integrity, referencing (AS2,3,4,5,8-10)
2. Technical skills: subject-specific knowledge, e.g., applications of dietary approaches to the management of some long-term nutrition-related conditions
3. Work ready skills: communication, collaboration, critical thinking, interpersonal skills (WR1,3,9,10)
4. Sustainability skills: critical thinking, information searching (SS3,10).
Details of the syllabus will be provided on the Minerva organisation (or equivalent) for the module
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supervision | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Lectures | 23 | 1 | 23 |
| seminars | 4 | 2 | 8 |
| Independent online learning hours | 30 | ||
| Private study hours | 88 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 32 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 150 | ||
1. Students will have opportunities to obtain formative feedback on tasks and individual contributions during the active-learning lectures, and seminar and workshop sessions, including coursework assessment clinics (to enhance engagement and encourage participation, digital tools, e.g., Vevox polling may be used during sessions).
2. Padlet entries, where used for asynchronous learning, will receive feedback from the Module Leader.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Assignment | Coursework | 100 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
Check the module area in Minerva for your reading list
Last updated: 30/04/2026
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team