Elegant female in overall eating while sitting outdoors in city. Elegant female in overall eating while sitting outdoors in city.

Accreditations

Association for Nutrition

Course Summary

It is becoming increasingly apparent that nutrition plays a key role in both health and disease. This course aims to develop an understanding of the principles of nutrition and enables students to scientifically evaluate the links between diet, health, and disease. Additionally, you will gain an in-depth understanding of the physiological and biochemical processes involved in how the human body utilises nutrients. However, nutrition is not just about individual nutrients, this course also explores the cultural, social, economic, and environmental factors that influence nutrition. 

The course is not just theoretical, modules include practical elements in order to develop real-world vocational skills required by nutritionists. As the MSc in Human Nutrition is accredited by the Association for Nutrition (AfN), graduates of this course are entitled to direct entry to the UK Voluntary Register of Nutritionists (UKVRN). This allows graduates to use the letters ‘ANutr’ after their name. 

This course will appeal to professionals within the food and nutrition industries as well as health professionals. Our course is also tailored for undergraduates with non-nutrition degrees who wish to move into the field of nutrition, and those with nutrition-related degrees wishing to further their studies to gain a postgraduate qualification. 

Visit our Timetable page for details on how modules are scheduled.

Students that do not wish to study the full MSc programme, can choose to study to a PGDip/PGCert level instead.


What you’llStudy

Our modules aim to develop your underpinning scientific knowledge of nutrition and equip you with the professional skills required for a career in nutrition. Modules will cover: principles of nutrition; human metabolism; nutrition in health and disease; sports nutrition; nutritional assessment; and research methods and data analysis.

Module content:

1. Nutrients, including water and alcohol

  • Essential nutrients
  • Conditionally essential nutrients
  • Dispensable (non-essential) nutrients
  • Beneficial non-nutrients

2. Reference values: their sources, uses and limitations

  • Dietary reference values
  • Safe Upper Levels

3. Food sources:

  • Of nutrients
  • Of other constituents of food
  • Toxins
  • Anti-nutrients

4. How food production, supply, and  preparation can determine chemical composition and content of dietary nutrients and other constituents

5. Digestion and absorption of nutrients

  • Metabolic fate of nutrients / end products of nutrient metabolism
  • Biological effects of inert ingesta

6. Role of diet, nutrition and foods across the lifespan

7. Key functions of the body

  • Control of food intake
  • Bioavailability of nutrients
  • Energy balance and nutrient balance
  • Nutrient turnover and storage
  • Homeostasis and homeorrhesis
  • Adaptation and its limits
  • Diet and immunity

Module aims:

The aim of this module is to equip students with an in-depth knowledge of the fundamentals of nutrition, and to evaluate critically, arguments, assumptions, concepts and research data in the field.

Module content:

1.       Metabolic overview: metabolic requirements of tissues - liver, muscle, heart and brain; bioenergetics and energy transduction in cells; role of creatine phosphate; energy sources and pathways

2.       Carbohydrate metabolism – glucose and glycogen; glycolysis, glycogenolysis and gluconeogenesis; TCA cycle; substrate and oxidative phosphorylation

3.       Dietary lipids – saturated, unsaturated and polyunsaturated fats; essential fatty acids; cholesterol.  Lipid metabolism – triglyceride and ketone body metabolism; phospholipid and cholesterol; adipose tissue metabolism; lipoproteins –role and turnover; lipids and health.

4.      Protein metabolism – amino acid catabolism and waste nitrogen; nutrition and protein metabolism; regulation systems. 

5.      Enzymatic and hormonal control of metabolic pathways

6.      Exercise/sports metabolism


Module aims:

To review and develop critical understanding of those elements of physiology and biochemistry which provide the theoretical basis of human metabolism.

Module content:

1.      Emerging concerns in nutrition and health

2.      Dietary factors in the aetiology and prevention of chronic diseases (eg. cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes).

3.      Nutritional epidemiology and public health.

4.      Nutrition needs of different groups, including eating behaviour and food choice.

5.      Role of scientific advisory committees and regulatory agencies.

6.      Healthy eating recommendations for the general public.

7.      Gene-nutrient interactions in health and disease.


Module aims:

1.      To provide students with an understanding of the nature of the diet and its relationship to the health and disease of different groups within the population.

2.      To ensure that students have an understanding of nutritional epidemiology and of the scientific basis for current nutrition guidelines.

3.      To provide students with an introduction to the policies which affect nutrition, food choice and related matters.

 

Module content:

1. Dietary Assessment

  • Obtaining and interpreting dietary information to assess nutritional/health status
  • Obtaining and interpreting information about the interaction of diet, health and disease
  • Use of dietary analysis software
  • Biochemical assessment of nutritional status

2. Nutritional anthropometry. Uses and limitations of:

  • Weight
  • Height and Proxy measures for height
    etc.
  • Indices e.g. Body Mass Index (BMI)
  • Circumferences e.g. mid-upper arm circumference
    (MUAC)
  • Estimation of muscle
  • Skinfolds and the assessment of body fat
  • Screening tools using anthropometry e.g. Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool
    (MUST)

Module aims:

This module aims to develop skills in nutritional and anthropometric assessment. Students will learn to assess a client’s nutritional needs and preferences using appropriate methods that are based on research evidence, best practice standards, guidelines and protocols.

Module content:

1.      The building blocks of scientific research: types of research (analytical, descriptive, experimental, and qualitative), scientific parlance (hypothesis, concepts, operational definitions, and dependent/independent variables), sampling procedures, and measurement issues (reliability and validity).

2.      Research and data collection methods: experimental research (developing hypotheses, independent/dependent variables, controls, sample selection, study designs, and experimental validity); descriptive research (questionnaires and interviews, case studies); qualitative research (characteristics, procedures, methods of data collection, data analysis, and internal/external validity).

3.      The nature of research; scientific methods of enquiry, pure versus applied ways of problem solving. Developing the research problem; identifying a topic area, devising specific questions, discovering what is already known (reviewing the literature), determining feasible ways to answer the questions.

4.      Ethics in research.

5.      Introduction to data analysis software (SPSS for Windows). Establishing an SPSS database. Defining and transforming variables; data storage and retrieval.

6.      Data analysis for descriptive and experimental research; descriptive statistics. Describing data; measures of variability, correlation and scatter plots. inferential statistics. Selecting an appropriate statistical test (parametric or non-parametric), and types of statistical tests (chi-square; t-tests; one-way ANOVA & post-hoc tests; Wilcoxon, Mann-Whitney U). Worked examples in SPSS. Repeated Measures ANOVA; Factorial ANOVA, Limits of agreement analysis for method comparison and test retest reliability. Worked examples in SPSS.


Module aims:

1.      To expose students to the essential elements in the process of conducting sound scientific research.

2.      To develop students’ skills in the key aspects of data handling and statistical analysis.

Module content:

The research will be agreed with an appropriate supervisor and the Research Co-ordinator.  The subject matter must be related to the field of nutrition.


Module aims:

1.      To provide the student with an opportunity to investigate systematically and in depth a topic of direct relevance to the programme of study and his/her personal interests.

2.      To enable the student to draw on and contribute to the development of the growing body of knowledge in the field of nutrition.

3.     To require the student to present a research proposal in the form of a poster and oral presentation.

4.     To require the student to present the outcomes of personal research in the form of a substantive research article.

Module content:

Public Health promotion and policy is a dynamic, multidisciplinary area that is receiving increased attention in government and the media. In this module emphasis is placed on the importance of gaining a critical appreciation of current developments in public health and nutrition policy, and the contributions of research and evaluation in guiding the development of health promotion and public health practice. Opportunities are also provided for participants to examine, reflect upon and develop their theoretical knowledge and practice in relation to current health promotion and public health initiatives, strategies and developments.

  • Public Health, Health surveillance, health policy and health improvement – goals and practice
  • Overview of national and European food policies in the context of GATT and the WTO; Parallel aspects of food, social, environment and transport policy
  • Overview of roles and legal context of national and European nutrition policies and action plans; Policy and strategy development and implementation
  • Theory and practice of policy planning, within an international context, including the nature and significance of goals and targets
  • Determinants of health
  • Inequalities in health and disease – including links to food sustainability
  • Definition, theories and models of health promotion: health beliefs, behaviour change, social marketing, empowerment, education
  • Evaluation of health promotion practice

Module aims:

The module aims to provide the student with: 

  1. A knowledge and systematic understanding of public food, nutrition and health policy, including the international influences on public policy formation in national governments, with implications for practice
  2. Understanding of the re-orientation of public health services, current frameworks, standards and outcome measures in order to enable them to evaluate these 
  3. Critically assess implications of policy on health promotion and maintenance at a community level
  4. Understand the different approaches to health promotion and application of these in relation to nutrition interventions
  5. To enhance understanding of health promotion theory and develop and evaluation practice in health promotion
  6. Understand social marketing, market segmentation and how to apply this into practice in support of health promotion

Who you’ll Learn from

Dr Sohail Mushtaq

Associate Professor in Nutritional Biochemistry, Deputy Head of Department, Programme Leader - MSc Human Nutrition
Dr Sohail Mushtaq

Dr James O'Reilly

Senior Lecturer
Dr James O'Reilly

Dr Mike Morris

Head of Allied Health
Dr Mike Morris

How you'll Learn

Each taught module involves attendance at a three or four day intensive course (Tuesday/Wednesday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.), followed by an eight-week period of campus- or home-based learning with interim tutorials. You will also undertake approximately 170 hours of private study per 20-credit module. The course is assessed using a variety of assessment methods, including written examinations, essays, oral presentations, and case studies. After completing six taught modules, you will commence the Research Project.

Entry Requirements

2:2 honours degree

A minimum 2:2 honours degree or equivalent, in a biological/health science including components of biochemistry, is required. 

On application, students should provide a degree transcript and details of modules with biochemistry content (e.g. module/unit descriptors).

Applications may be considered from applicants with degrees that don’t fall into the above categories, e.g. chemistry, sports science etc., providing the applicant has a minimum 2:1 honours degree and recent A Levels in biology and/or chemistry (grade A-C).

2:2 honours degree

A minimum 2:2 honours degree or equivalent, in a biological/ health science including components of biochemistry, is required. 

On application, students should provide a degree transcript and details of modules with biochemistry content (e.g. module/ unit descriptors). 

Applications may be considered from applicants with degrees that don’t fall into the above categories, e.g. chemistry, sports science etc., providing the applicant has a minimum 2:1 honours degree and recent A Levels in biology and/ or chemistry (grade A-C). 

English Language Requirements

For those who do not have IELTS or an acceptable in-country English language qualification, the University of Chester has developed its own online English language test which applicants can take for just £50. 

For more information on our English Language requirements, please visit International Entry Requirements

Where you'll Study Exton Park, Chester

Fees and Funding

£8,505 per year (2024/25)

Guides to the fees for students who wish to commence postgraduate courses in the academic year 2024/25 are available to view on our Postgraduate Taught Programmes Fees page.

£14,750 per year (2024/25)

The tuition fees for international students studying Postgraduate programmes in 2024/25 are £14,750. 

The University of Chester offers generous international and merit-based scholarships for postgraduate study, providing a significant reduction to the published headline tuition fee. You will automatically be considered for these scholarships when your application is reviewed, and any award given will be stated on your offer letter.  

For more information, go to our International Fees, Scholarship and Finance section.

Irish Nationals living in the UK or ROI are treated as Home students for Tuition Fee Purposes.

Your course will involve additional costs not covered by your tuition fees. This may include books, printing, photocopying, educational stationery and related materials, specialist clothing, travel to placements, optional field trips and software. Compulsory field trips are covered by your tuition fees. 

If you are living away from home during your time at university, you will need to cover costs such as accommodation, food, travel and bills.

The University of Chester supports fair access for students who may need additional support through a range of bursaries and scholarships.

Full details, as well as terms and conditions for all bursaries and scholarships can be found on the Fees & Finance section of our website.

Your future Career

Job prospects

Many employers require nutritionists who are registered with the UK Voluntary Register of Nutritionists (UKVRN), which is maintained by the AfN. Successful completion of this course will allow you to apply for direct entry on to the register. 

Nutrition is a broad field and previous graduates typically work in: 

  • public health 
  • community health 
  • food/ nutrition industries 
  • private freelance practice 
  • charities and voluntary organisations 
  • research and development 
  • sports nutrition

Careers service

The University has an award-winning Careers and Employability service which provides a variety of employability-enhancing experiences; through the curriculum, through employer contact, tailored group sessions, individual information, advice and guidance.

Careers and Employability aims to deliver a service which is inclusive, impartial, welcoming, informed and tailored to your personal goals and aspirations, to enable you to develop as an individual and contribute to the business and community in which you will live and work.

We are here to help you plan your future, make the most of your time at University and to enhance your employability. We provide access to part-time jobs, extra-curricular employability-enhancing workshops and offer practical one-to-one help with career planning, including help with CVs, applications and mock interviews. We also deliver group sessions on career planning within each course and we have a wide range of extensive information covering graduate jobs.