Nutrition

Nutrition is the science of how food and its constituent nutrients affect human health, growth, function and disease. It draws on biochemistry, physiology, epidemiology, public health and food science to understand the relationship between diet and health outcomes across the lifespan and at a population level. It is a discipline with direct relevance to the prevention and management of diet-related diseases, to public health policy, and to the ways in which communities and populations are supported to eat well and live healthily.

This three-year full-time degree at Leeds Beckett University includes a sandwich year with a work placement and a year abroad, giving you substantial professional and international experience built into the programme. You will study nutritional science, including macro and micronutrients, metabolism, the physiology of digestion and absorption, the epidemiology of diet-related disease, public health nutrition and the evidence base for dietary guidelines. The work placement gives you practical experience in a professional nutrition or health setting, applying your academic knowledge to real health promotion and dietary support challenges.

The year abroad adds an international dimension that is increasingly relevant to nutrition, given the global nature of food systems and the variation in dietary patterns and their health consequences across different populations.

Graduates work in public health nutrition, health promotion, community health, food industry roles including product development and quality, health education and research. Those who wish to become registered dietitians will need additional postgraduate training, but the nutrition degree provides a strong foundation for that route as well as for careers in related areas of health and food. Further study at postgraduate level in human nutrition, public health, dietetics or food science is a common next step for graduates seeking specialist qualifications or research careers.