Nutrition Communication and Education
A.Y. 2025/2026
Learning objectives
The module aims to educate the students on the main problems and mistakes in the field of nutritional communication, and to provide strategies to avoid them both at the individual level (transtheoretical model) and at the dissemination level (generalizing the results and extrapolating conclusions). In addition, the course aims to provide theoretical and practical knowledge on the fundamental principles of health education and therapeutic education, with a focus on needs assessment, educational diagnosis, goal setting, and the organization of effective educational interventions. Students will develop skills to design, implement, and evaluate educational programs tailored to different target groups.
Expected learning outcomes
At the end of the course, the student will have acquired useful tools for a correct and effective communication in the field of nutrition, both at a personalized level (in the dietician-patient relationship), at a collective level (presentations to groups of people) and at a dissemination level in the absence of an attending audience (dissemination of nutritional information in print, radio and television, and social media). Moreover, students will be able to analyze the educational needs of individuals and groups in the healthcare field; define and structure educational objectives suited to the target audience; design and implement an educational intervention, including an educational contract; monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the educational intervention, adjusting it to the specific needs of the participants.
Lesson period: First semester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course cannot be attended as a single course. Please check our list of single courses to find the ones available for enrolment.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
First semester
Course syllabus
Course Syllabus - Communication and Education in Human Nutrition
Communication Module (Instructor: Stefano Vendrame)
Course Objectives:
This module provides students with an understanding of the principles, methods, and challenges of communication in the field of nutrition, across individual, group, and mass-media contexts.
Topics Covered:
* Introduction to communication in nutrition: contexts and settings (nutritionist-patient interaction, group presentations, public dissemination without direct interlocutors); advantages and disadvantages.
* Generic vs. personalized communication: feedback mechanisms, message adaptation, and individualization.
* The Transtheoretical Model and its applications in nutritional communication.
* Risks of poor communication practices: sensationalism, polarization, oversimplification, media superficiality, and their consequences (confusion, distrust, anxiety, frustration, post-truth phenomena).
* Nutritional communication on social media: opportunities, structural risks (polarization, echo chambers, rabbit holes), and content-related risks (intermediation, control).
* Information overload: implications for attention span, contextualization, priority setting, risk perception, and critical reasoning.
* Scientistic communication: informative value vs. prescriptive claims; tentative knowledge vs. illusion of certainty; scientific validity vs. general validity; fake news vs. legitimate opinions.
* Uses and limitations of anecdotal evidence, single-study results, and indirect extrapolations in nutritional communication.
* Critical appraisal of research communication:
* Epidemiological studies (association vs. causality, confounding factors, range restriction).
* Intervention studies (endpoints vs. intermediate markers, masked effects, study quality).
* Cautions in extrapolation and generalization: reductionism, nutritionism, nutrient-centrism, and the pharmacological approach to food.
* Dishonest communication practices: presentation bias, cherry-picking, manufactured controversy, and manipulation strategies (e.g., constructing "miracle" or "demonized" foods).
* Practical recommendations for effective communication:
* Face-to-face contexts (one-to-one or group).
* Written dissemination (web/blog articles, print media).
* Audiovisual dissemination (social media, radio, television).
Education Module (Instructor: Jessica Longhini)
Course Objectives:
This module introduces students to the principles and practices of nutrition education, with a focus on designing, implementing, and evaluating educational interventions.
Topics Covered:
* Distinction between informative and educational interventions.
* Phases of educational program design.
* Needs analysis: tools, investigative methods, and data sources.
* Definition of objectives and expected outcomes.
* Criteria for selecting educational methods.
* Organizational aspects in planning and implementing interventions.
* Evaluation tools for measuring satisfaction and learning outcomes.
Communication Module (Instructor: Stefano Vendrame)
Course Objectives:
This module provides students with an understanding of the principles, methods, and challenges of communication in the field of nutrition, across individual, group, and mass-media contexts.
Topics Covered:
* Introduction to communication in nutrition: contexts and settings (nutritionist-patient interaction, group presentations, public dissemination without direct interlocutors); advantages and disadvantages.
* Generic vs. personalized communication: feedback mechanisms, message adaptation, and individualization.
* The Transtheoretical Model and its applications in nutritional communication.
* Risks of poor communication practices: sensationalism, polarization, oversimplification, media superficiality, and their consequences (confusion, distrust, anxiety, frustration, post-truth phenomena).
* Nutritional communication on social media: opportunities, structural risks (polarization, echo chambers, rabbit holes), and content-related risks (intermediation, control).
* Information overload: implications for attention span, contextualization, priority setting, risk perception, and critical reasoning.
* Scientistic communication: informative value vs. prescriptive claims; tentative knowledge vs. illusion of certainty; scientific validity vs. general validity; fake news vs. legitimate opinions.
* Uses and limitations of anecdotal evidence, single-study results, and indirect extrapolations in nutritional communication.
* Critical appraisal of research communication:
* Epidemiological studies (association vs. causality, confounding factors, range restriction).
* Intervention studies (endpoints vs. intermediate markers, masked effects, study quality).
* Cautions in extrapolation and generalization: reductionism, nutritionism, nutrient-centrism, and the pharmacological approach to food.
* Dishonest communication practices: presentation bias, cherry-picking, manufactured controversy, and manipulation strategies (e.g., constructing "miracle" or "demonized" foods).
* Practical recommendations for effective communication:
* Face-to-face contexts (one-to-one or group).
* Written dissemination (web/blog articles, print media).
* Audiovisual dissemination (social media, radio, television).
Education Module (Instructor: Jessica Longhini)
Course Objectives:
This module introduces students to the principles and practices of nutrition education, with a focus on designing, implementing, and evaluating educational interventions.
Topics Covered:
* Distinction between informative and educational interventions.
* Phases of educational program design.
* Needs analysis: tools, investigative methods, and data sources.
* Definition of objectives and expected outcomes.
* Criteria for selecting educational methods.
* Organizational aspects in planning and implementing interventions.
* Evaluation tools for measuring satisfaction and learning outcomes.
Prerequisites for admission
Fundamentals of human nutrition and food science
Teaching methods
Teaching methods include frontal lectures, group discussions, and practical training activities related to both individual and group projects.
Teaching Resources
Communication module:
- Course slides and supplementary materials made available to students on the course website
Education module:
- Educare all'autocura. Longhini J. Idelson Gnocchi. 2024
- Course slides and supplementary materials made available to students on the course website
- Course slides and supplementary materials made available to students on the course website
Education module:
- Educare all'autocura. Longhini J. Idelson Gnocchi. 2024
- Course slides and supplementary materials made available to students on the course website
Assessment methods and Criteria
Communication Module (Instructor: Stefano Vendrame):
- Individual Project: Preparation of a popular science article (approximately 7,000-8,000 characters, including spaces), with mandatory adaptations for both print and web dissemination, as well as corresponding social media formats, on a topic to be agreed upon with the instructor.
- Oral Presentation: Delivery of a five-minute oral presentation of the article, to be carried out either during class sessions or at the time of the examination.
- Group Project: Development of a public communication campaign (format to be defined) addressing a selected objective in nutritional communication/education. Non-attending students who are unable to participate in group work are required to promptly contact the instructor via e-mail in order to arrange an alternative assignment.
- Oral Examination: Assessment through oral discussion of the topics covered and the projects completed.
Education Module (Instructor: Jessica Longhini):
- Individual Project Work: Design and submission of an educational intervention plan, based on case studies assigned by the instructor (expected length: two pages).
- Individual Project: Preparation of a popular science article (approximately 7,000-8,000 characters, including spaces), with mandatory adaptations for both print and web dissemination, as well as corresponding social media formats, on a topic to be agreed upon with the instructor.
- Oral Presentation: Delivery of a five-minute oral presentation of the article, to be carried out either during class sessions or at the time of the examination.
- Group Project: Development of a public communication campaign (format to be defined) addressing a selected objective in nutritional communication/education. Non-attending students who are unable to participate in group work are required to promptly contact the instructor via e-mail in order to arrange an alternative assignment.
- Oral Examination: Assessment through oral discussion of the topics covered and the projects completed.
Education Module (Instructor: Jessica Longhini):
- Individual Project Work: Design and submission of an educational intervention plan, based on case studies assigned by the instructor (expected length: two pages).
MED/45 - NURSING - University credits: 2
MED/49 - FOOD AND DIETETIC SCIENCES - University credits: 2
MED/49 - FOOD AND DIETETIC SCIENCES - University credits: 2
Practicals: 16 hours
Lessons: 24 hours
Lessons: 24 hours
Professors:
Longhini Jessica, Vendrame Stefano
Educational website(s)
Professor(s)