Evaluation of Nutritional Status and Principles of Dietetics and Diet Therapy

The course aims at reaching two groups of learning objectives, developed in two modules.
The nutritional evaluation objectives include the definition of malnutrition, knowledge and abilities related to nutritional diagnostic methods. The study of the most frequent clinical and diagnostic pictures in malnourished patients, and the main diagnostic strategies.
The dietetics and diet therapy objectives will provide the knowledge of the different levels of nutritional intervention and of their management, the understanding of the deontological and professional aspects of the nutritionist and of the interaction with the other professional figures involved. The students will learn the principles of dietetics in physiologic conditions, the nutritional guidelines for the main diet-correlated diseases and the principles of diet therapy.

At the end of the course, the student will be able to understand malnutrition and nutritional risk. He/she will also develop the ability to design and conduct protocols for assessing the state of nutrition, to apply nutritional surveillance strategies in particular physiological conditions, to interpret the results of nutritional investigations and to recognize malnutrition patterns, developing diagnostic judgment skills of malnutrition or nutritional risk.
The student will also acquire the skills to plan and promote nutritional education and counseling interventions with specific targets. He/she will acquire the skills to define a balanced diet plan or with specific nutrient compositions. Finally, the student will have competence on dietary approaches for diseases of nutritional interest.