Course Description: The focus of this course is to examine the role of the dietitian/nutritionist in identifying health and nutrition problems and integrating nutritional services with medical and social services within the community. Prerequisite(s): NTRN 1513 Introduction to Nutrition or NTRN 1483 Personal Nutrition.

This course will provide basic knowledge and skills relevant to the practice of community nutrition. We will cover the concept of community, the role of nutrition in health promotion and perspectives for resolving community nutrition problems. Needs assessment issues and national and state community nutrition programs, determinants of health outcomes, measurement of nutrition and health status, food and nutrition policy, legislative issues and management of community programs will be covered. Finally, the concepts and knowledge required for the delivery of community nutrition services will be applied to program planning, intervention and program evaluation.

Course Objectives: Upon successful completion of the course, it is expected that each student will achieve the following objectives and be transformed in the listed areas of The Central Six (http://www.uco.edu/central/tl/central6/index.asp)

1. Discipline Knowledge
   • Explain the characteristics, functions and processes of a community and identify the role of nutrition in health promotion.
   • Describe the objectives of, and services provided by the community nutrition programs discussed in class.
   • Distinguish between local, state and federal food and nutrition programs.
2. Health and Wellness
   • List the basic goals of a community assessment.
   • Describe how a community assessment can be conducted including specification of the types of data that are relevant.
   • Describe the different methods for assessing nutritional status and health in the community, and give examples of the appropriate use of each method.
   • Be familiar with sources of data for conducting a community assessment, including those on the internet.
   • Apply knowledge from other disciplines such as epidemiology, anthropology, and health education to a community nutrition assessment.
3. Service Learning and Civic Engagement
   • Describe the legislative and regulatory process, and discuss ways to influence policy.
   • Demonstrate the processes involved in designing, implementing and evaluating a community nutrition program through a service-learning project.

See below for full syllabus: