On successful completion of the course, the candidate:
Knowledge
Skills
General competence
This course focuses on the developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD); a concept that has emerged over the past 40 years, linking life-long health and risk of disease with the environmental conditions during early life. Adverse aspects of the early environment include maternal, paternal, fetal and infant malnutrition (including excess or insufficient macro- and micronutrients), toxins (e.g. maternal smoking or environmental chemical exposure), and psychological or physiological stress. The field brings together molecular biology (especially epigenetics), developmental biology, experimental physiology, clinical studies, public and global health, the social sciences, developmental psychology and evolutionary biology.
At its core, this course highlights the importance of adequate nutrition during early development, and explores fundamental mechanisms of nutrition in development, how to successfully modify dietary behavior and lifestyle in this context, and how this knowledge can be included in public health policy.
To reach the aim described above, the content of the course will be the following contexts and topics:
The course days, group work, presentations and essay are obligatory.
The final assignment is a 3000-word essay based on the literature review that the candidate has performed. The essay will focus on a self-chosen topic related to the course content. The essay must be delivered within four weeks after the end of the course.
The assignment will be graded as pass or fail.
1 semester
5
Spring, Autumn
Kristiansand
Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences