Focus in Public Health Nutrition and Physical Activity

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Note: All students admitted Fall 2026 and beyond MUST follow the course list below.

“Core” requirements (15 credit hours)
Each student in the MPH Program must complete these required public health core courses:

• Biostatistics: MPH 701 Fundamental Methods of Biostatistics (3 hrs)
• Environmental health sciences: MPH 802 Environmental Health (3 hrs)
• Epidemiology: MPH 754 Introduction to Epidemiology (3 hrs)
• Health services administration: MPH 720 Admin. of Health Care Organizations (3 hrs)
• Social and behavioral sciences: MPH 818 Social and Behavioral Bases of Public Health (3 hrs)

Specific Focus Area Requirements

Required Courses = 10 hours

Prerequisite courses: Students without an undergraduate degree in nutrition or dietetics or graduate work in nutrition need an understanding of human nutrition similar to that which is taught in: FNDH 400 Human Nutrition and FNDH 450 Nutritional Assessment. These courses or the equivalent must be completed before the student is approved for full admission status in the program.

FNDH 600	Public Health Nutrition (3 hrs) (online section available)
KIN 710	Program Planning and Evaluation (3 hrs) (online section available)
KIN 805	Physical Activity and Human Behavior (3 hrs) (online section available)
KIN 890 OR FNDH 880	Graduate Seminar in Human Nutrition (1 hr) (online section available) Professional Communication in FNDH (1 hr)

Elective courses = 11 hours (list of courses)
Culminating experience - MPH 840 (6 credit hours)

Total hrs required for MPH Degree (42 hours)

All MPH graduate students must maintain a GPA of 3.0 or above in ALL graduate course work to remain in good standing in the program and to graduate with an MPH degree. Detailed information concerning this requirement may be found on the Graduate School website: http://www.k-state.edu/grad/

PHNPA Focus Area Competency		Description of Competency
1	Evidence-based public health nutrition	Analyze the efficacy of food- and nutrition-related strategies in improving population health by connecting research to public policy and/or public health nutrition interventions.
2	Environmental influences on nutrition	Examine the role of food environments in influencing dietary patterns and health through a nutrition environment assessment of a community.
3	Determinants of Health Behavior	Justify the extent to which social, behavioral and/or environmental factors contribute to physical activity and/or nutrition behaviors
4	Health Behavior Theories	Critique application of social and behavioral theories and/or models in behavioral interventions promoting physical activity and/or nutrition
5	Health Promotion Program Planning	Develop comprehensive, theory-based health promotion program plans and evaluation frameworks to address community health needs