During the "live" office hours with my students on Zoom this week we discussed the implications and impact of the pandemic on individual eating behavior (in context to Chapter 13's coverage of the determinants of eating behavior) as well as the impact on national dietary trends and food security.   In discussing that the issue isn't necessarily access or consumption of adequate calories, but access and intake of nutrient-dense foods within those calories, I was able to introduce the concept of nutrition security as addressed in Chapter 14.   Today I read with interest a post in Marion Nestle's Food Politics entitled "Let’s pay attention to nutrition security (as well as food security)" that included this point: " it’s not enough to provide adequate calories to people who need food; those calories should come from foods that promote health."  If you are wrapping up the semester with Chapter 14, these recent research briefs on the impact of Coronavirus on food insecurity from Feeding America may also be of interest.    ... View more

Are your students interested in the potential ill effects of sugar sweetened beverages (SSB) and/or the the importance of a healthy gut microbiota? A recent article in the journal Translational Psychiatry reports that adolescent rats given access to water sweetened to the same level as soft drinks showed impaired cognitive development and altered gut microbiota. They further demonstrate that when the specific strains of bacteria that were enriched in the gut of SSB feed rats were transferred to the gut of adolescent rats they in turn showed impaired memory in adulthood. This provides support for a direct effect of the gut microbiota on brain development and function.  "Gut microbial taxa elevated by dietary sugar disrupt memory function." https://www.nature.com/articles/s41398-021-01309-7. ... View more

Course goals are typically a prominent part of your course syllabus and guide course organization, content, assessment and evaluation.   We all have university generated course and instructor evaluations that go out to our students - but rarely are these tailored to individual course goals.   A few semesters ago I began surveying students (anonymously) asking for feedback on how well they felt the course did in meeting course goals.   I also asked if they had suggestions for adapting or editing course goals for future semesters and students.   It was gratifying to take a look at the course goals myself and feel that my students did leave the course with a better grounding in nutrition and were better equipped to evaluate nutrition in the media and marketplace - but was very helpful to get their perspective.   Would love to hear ways you seek student feedback beyond the university generated evaluation.   As an FYI, here are the course goals for my introductory nutrition course at Vanderbilt.   Look forward to hearing from you!    Open the post and use the "Reply" button at the bottom of the screen.   COURSE GOALS: At the end of the course, the student will be able to: 1. Appreciate the scope and complexity of the evolving science of nutrition. 2. Discuss the role of each of the six classes of nutrients in the maintenance of health. 3. Describe how dietary recommendations for Americans are established, evaluated, implemented and applied to meet individual dietary needs, promote health, and prevent chronic disease – and how they compare to food based guidelines from around the globe. 4. Describe the fundamental role of nutrition and food choice in prevention and treatment of select diet-related chronic diseases. 5. Discuss factors that affect nutrition and health status of individuals across the lifespan with corresponding intervention strategies. 6. Analyze controversies or claims surrounding one or more contemporary nutrition issues on the basis of scientific evidence and nutrition theory. 7. Identify ways individuals can assess, evaluate, and implement strategies that promote a healthy and safe diet. 8. Discuss how all foods can fit within an overall healthful diet. A goal of this course is to lessen and lighten food related "rules" and dogmatic thinking surrounding dietary practices and approaches through a better understanding of nutrition principles and application. ... View more

At the end of last semester I decided to put together a list of all the health and nutrition related websites my students had visited as part of assignments and activities over the duration of the course.   One goal of my introductory nutrition course is to expose and acquaint students with the many and varied credible web-based resources available to them - that they visit during the course, but hopefully recall and make use of after the course.   These are integrated into weekly activities with specific questions that require accessing and engaging on the sites.   Many of my students are future health professionals so it is valuable, for example, to explore the NIH vitamin and mineral factsheets with quiz-based questions related to the Health Professional version of a fact sheet.   Or to visit the American Heart Association, American Diabetes Association, and the American Cancer Society to access disease risk tools or skim the nutrition resources available at these websites.   I was surprised at the number and variety of websites once I consolidated them on the attached!  I shared examples of how the websites are integrated into weekly assignments in a previous post from September 2020.   Let me know if you'd like an updated version at jamie.pope@vanderbilt.edu.    ... View more

My students are wrapping up their second project of the semester for which they explore claims, efficacy, and safety of a dietary supplement using credible websites and medical literature (see post from 10-13-2020).  This project not only provides opportunity to learn about a particular supplement, but exposes them to the challenges and questions surrounding supplement regulation and recommendations.  This week during "live" office hours I plan to share the recently proposed Congressional legislation to expand access to dietary supplements via programs like SNAP, WIC, HSAs and FSAs for discussion.  Currently neither SNAP nor WIC allow participants to purchase dietary supplements through the programs.   Interesting proposal that will no doubt generate discussion and debate among health professionals, health organizations, policy makers, and industry representatives.   This proposed legislation certainly brings questions and concerns to my mind!   Read more here:   https://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/Article/2021/03/18/Ed-Towns-Jr-calls-to-expand-access-to-dietary-supplements And in looking for more on this proposed legislation, I came across this 3/9/2021 article that reports a 12% increase in supplement sales in 2020 alone - and a call for more government focus on supplement regulation, industry practices, and consumer protection.  https://wholefoodsmagazine.com/columns/trade-secrets/modernizing-regulations-for-a-safer-dietary-supplements-industry/  ... View more