Diet, Physical Activity and Fitness - Assessment and Evaluation, 7.5 credits

A Bachelor's degree or a professional degree equivalent to a Swedish Bachelor's degree of at least 180 credits in biomedicine, biology, cellular and molecular biology, pharmaceutics, chemistry, medicine, nutrition, biotechnology, or the equivalent. And proficiency in English equivalent to English B/English 6.

Upon completion of the course, the student should be able to:

• suggest, justify and critically discuss the appropriateness of the methods covered in the course in different given situations.
• apply the latest (global) physical activity and nutrient recommendations and be able to quantify populations at risk.
• apply the concepts of the quality and quantitative aspects in the dose-response relationship beween physical (in)activity and health.
• design a brief assessment tool for use in nutrition epidemiology.
• carry out, supervise and evaluate outcomes of selected tests for cardiorespiratory fitness and body strength.
• calculate sample size estimates, effect sizes and statistical power for different study designs and assessment methods.
• carry out appropriate statistical tests using SPSS to evaluate validity and precision of dietary-, physical activity- and body composition assessment methods.
• write a short report according to standard scientific structure.

This course aims to give the student a deeper understanding of modern methods for assessing dietary intake, physical (in)activity and fitness, both at the individual and group level. This course covers study design, choice of assessment methodology, body composition, recommendations, calculation of study power and number of measurement days. Data is collected on all students and statistical software will be used to compare methods and assess their validity and precision. The course also provides a deeper understanding of how to evaluate reported nutrient intake and physical activity for different groups in comparison to relevant reference values. The role of quantitative and qualitative aspects of physical activity to promote (global) health and to prevent and treat disease is also covered. 

This course consists of lectures (live and recorded), discussions, workshops and a number of practical assessments for  physical activity and fitness, complemented with dietary data from the course "Diet and health - scientific basis, recommendations and sustainability" from earlier in the program. 

The examination consists of written and oral assignments, graded Pass/Fail, and individual written assignments, graded Pass with distinction/Pass/Fail. The grading criteria for all examinations are given in the study guide.

 In the case of failed results, the assignment may be submitted a maximum of five more times. If the student has completed six failed  examinations, no further examination opportunities will be given for that assignment.

A student who has failed two examinations for a course or part of a course, is entitled to have another examiner appointed unless  special reasons speak against it.

Compulsory participation:
Assignments and seminar s are mandatory. The course director assesses if and, in that case, how absence from compulsory parts can be compensated. Before the student has participated in all compulsory parts or compensated absence according with the course director's instructions, the student's results will not be registrated in LADOK. Absence from a compulsory activity may result  in that the student cannot compensate absence until the next time the course is
given.

After each course occasion there will be total six occasions for the examination within a two-year perios from the end of the course.

The course language is English.

A course evaluatioon will be conducted according to guidelines decided by the Board of Higher Education at KI.

Oral evaluation will be carried out during the course.