Nutrition

Nutrition is the science of how food and diet affect human health, development and wellbeing. It draws on biochemistry, physiology, epidemiology and public health to understand how the body uses nutrients, how dietary patterns relate to disease, and how nutritional science can be applied to support health across populations and individual patients. The field spans everything from cellular metabolism and the molecular biology of specific nutrients to the public health challenges of obesity, malnutrition and diet-related chronic disease, making it relevant to healthcare, food industry, sport and policy settings alike.

At Teesside University this programme runs over four years of full-time study, beginning with a foundation year that prepares you for the scientific demands of the main degree. A sandwich year in professional practice and a placement element are built into the programme, giving you direct experience in a professional nutrition or health-related environment before you graduate. You will study the physiological and biochemical basis of nutrition alongside the public health dimensions of diet and disease, developing both laboratory skills and the ability to evaluate nutritional science critically and communicate evidence to different audiences.

Nutrition graduates work in NHS dietetics support roles, public health teams, sports nutrition, the food industry, research organisations, charities and public policy bodies concerned with diet and health. Many graduates go on to further professional training in dietetics, public health nutrition or sport and exercise nutrition, where the undergraduate science foundation provides the platform for registered practitioner status. Others move into food labelling and regulation, product development, health journalism or science communication.

Postgraduate study in nutrition, dietetics, food science or public health is a natural route for graduates seeking specialisation or clinical registration.