Public Health Nutrition

Emphasis in Public Health Nutrition

The curriculum prepares professionals to apply nutrition principles in evidence-based interventions to promote healthful eating in populations, and to focus on interactions between nutrition and health. Curriculum topics include: nutritional epidemiology; obesity prevention; and intervention strategies for impacting health through nutrition.

Note: All students admitted Fall 2018 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 Toxicology (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 Emphasis 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)

FNDH 844

Nutritional Epidemiology (3 hrs) (online section available)

FNDH 820

Functional Foods for Chronic Disease Prevention (3 hrs) (online only)

FNDH 880

Graduate Seminar in Human Nutrition (1 hr) (online section available)

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/

PHN Emphasis Area Competency

Description of Competency

1

Information literacy of public health nutrition

Inform public health practice through analysis of evidence-based policy, systems, and environmental change.

2

Compare and relate research into practice

Examine chronic disease surveillance, policy, program planning and evaluation, and program management, in the context of public health nutrition.

3

Population-based health administration

Critically examine population-based nutrition programs.

4

Analysis of human nutrition principles

Examine epidemiological concepts of human nutrition in order to improve population health and reduce disease risk.

5

Analysis of nutrition epidemiology

Describe criteria for validity in nutritional epidemiological methodology.

(PDF - Competencies Requirement)