Nutrition instructors - Welcome to a new semester! What diet and nutrition questions (and misconceptions) do your new students have?

[jamiepopeauthor]

Welcome to a new semester! What diet and nutrition questions are your students wondering about? The first week of classes is an excellent opportunity to get a sense of what questions (and misconceptions!) your students have coming into your course. Consider having students submit one nutrition or diet related question via your LMS that they'd like addressed over the course of the semester. You can use their questions to inform your teaching and for assignments and projects during the semester.

Ideas:

• Consider the questions as you prepare topic specific lectures and guide students to where their questions are addressed in the text 
• Use the questions for a research project. Select a few of the questions to have students choose one to explore and compare in the media and in scientific literature. (Message me if you'd like a copy of a Nutrition in the News project)
• For an end of semester assignment, provide an Excel list of their questions (without names) and ask them to address one....the hope is that by scrolling through the questions from the first week of class students get a sense of what they've learned, but also how much there is to learn in the arena of nutrition!

Here's a sampling of questions, note how some demonstrate inherent misconceptions....

How necessary is it to have three meals a day and which one is the priority?

How many carbs on average should one eat during a day?

What foods are best to avoid?

Which fad diets are actually good for you?

What is the relationship between your diet and your mood and/or mental health (if there is one)?

How much protein is too much?

Are multivitamins helpful?

Are there benefits of dairy in the human diet or is it healthier to altogether eliminate dairy?

What are the true benefits of a plant-based diet?

How I can I ensure I'm getting all my required nutrients on a plant-based diet?

I would like to learn more about the effects of red meat on health and cancer.

What does a well-balanced diet look like

What types of food aid in better performance???

I am curious about coffee. What are the nutritional benefits? How much is too much coffee?

How should what one consumes change over the lifespan?

is diet soda actually that bad for you?

Is there any science behind Omega-3 and fish oil consumption.

How can I maintain a healthy gut with my diet?

Does diet or exercise play a larger role in overall health and weight?

How can you have a healthy and good diet while still eating what you want?