Human Nutrition with Foundation BSc Honours

No prior knowledge of biological sciences is assumed, therefore this module will provide an appropriate foundation for you to gain an understanding of fundamental concepts of biology. This content includes consideration of central theories of biology, including cell theory, evolutionary theory, gene theory and homeostasis. Applications of these will lead to an understanding of energy movement within and between organisms, ecosystems, and ultimately the laws of life.

This module provides you with both a solid theoretical grounding of the ‘doing’ of the life sciences, the practical psychomotor laboratory skills, and introductions to data handling, analysis and visualisation to enable you to progress successfully onto Level 4 of life sciences degree courses. The module will develop a range of practical skills related to laboratory-based experimentation, stressing the importance of laboratory safety, critical interpretation of data as well as getting you to reflect on the importance of managing their career aims and self-development.

As no prior knowledge of chemistry is assumed, this module will provide an appropriate foundation for you to gain an understanding of selected aspects of physical and quantitative chemistry. The content includes consideration of atoms, isotopes, ions and molecules; the periodic table; chemical bonding; chemical equations; and the properties and importance of water to life. Study of acids, bases and buffers leads to a qualitative description of pH. It also introduces basic concepts of organic chemistry, including consideration of hydrocarbon compounds and typical functional groups, before proceeding to explain the basis of the structure/function relationships found in important biological molecules. The IUPAC system is explained and used to name simple organic compounds, biomolecules and their polymers. You'll also develop data handling and practical analytical skills.

Critical thinking is fundamental to our ability to progress in an increasingly complex and changing world. It is an essential skill across a range of academic and practice-based disciplines.

This module helps you understand the importance and function of critical thinking both at university and beyond. By working in partnership with academic staff and peers, you will explore how critical thinking aligns with disciplinary practices, shapes scholarly knowledge, and addresses inequalities. Through problem-posing education and anti-racist practices, you will engage with real-world problems, fostering the ability to create a more just and sustainable world.

This module introduces you to the key academic, professional, and personal skills essential for success at university. It encourages good practices in writing, presentation, and time management, while also fostering reflection to help you build confidence as you transition to higher education. Open to all students enrolled in courses delivered through Westminster Foundation Pathways, the module provides a creative and supportive environment where you can reflect on and develop their academic and professional journey. You'll work with specialist facilitators who play a crucial role in guiding your academic and professional development.

With a focus on managing academic choices in a higher education setting, the module emphasises the importance of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), using methodologies that prioritise equality, diversity, and inclusion. Through these lenses, you'll explore topics that prepare you to address real-world challenges as highlighted in the SDGs in a socially conscious, inclusive, and responsible manner.

This module will integrate concepts of Biology and Chemistry to better understand how humans grow, age, reproduce and respond to stimuli. Major organ systems anatomy and physiology will be discussed, alongside examples of how humans respond to perturbations to homeostasis, the resolution mechanisms, and how specifically humans function physiologically.

This module aims to provide an introduction to the biology of the cell and the fundamental processes and interactions that take place during the life of a cell. The biodiversity of cells within the Tree of Life will be considered, with particular focus on the domains Prokarya and Eukarya. Cell division, specialisation, ageing and death will be examined at the individual and population level, alongside gene inheritance, transmission and expression, and the role of genetic variance and natural selection on cell populations. Cell behaviour and the ability of cells to communicate and interact with one another as well as impact on the environment will be covered. Practical work will ensure you receive a foundation in experimental techniques of cell biology.

This module will provide an introduction to the organisation, communication, and support systems of the human body. Major physiological systems will be covered with emphasis placed on the maintenance of homeostasis via feedback mechanisms.

This module aims to explore the fundamental aspects of nutrition and exercise and their role in the improvement of health status. The core disciplines of metabolism and nutritional biochemistry will be covered. A basis for understanding how the assimilation and utilization of energy and nutrients affect nutrition and exercise will be provided. The concept of interdisciplinary study in the metabolism of exercise and nutrition from molecular biochemistry to the nutritional demands of physical activity will be provided. You'll be expected to use peer-reviewed papers to develop your understanding in this module.

An understanding of the science underpinning sound nutrition is essential for the evaluation of the role of nutrition in health and physical well-being. This module will explore fundamental concepts in cellular biochemistry and physiology which relate to human nutrition and provide students with an introduction to vocational professional practices. The module content will be delivered via a combination of lectures, interactive tutorials and practical sessions in our human performance laboratories.

The module will introduce the concepts of employability and professionalism in the workplace with specific reference to the Bioscience/Life Science industry. Emphasis will be placed on learning to conduct one’s self as a credible scientist with ethical professional and honest manner with consideration for scientific advances and technological innovation. You'll be taught about scientific communities, learn to appreciate diversity and constructive discussions on scientific topics; evaluate scientific literature, importantly critically examining the credibility of sources of scientific claims. You will document through a variety of assessments transferrable skills linked to a career development pathway in a professional development portfolio. Emphasis will be put on the continuity of the portfolio throughout your time at Westminster and into the world of work.

Through a blended learning approach and introduction to the Westminster Award, the central ethos portrayed will be to develop a professional employability portfolio throughout the journey through higher education. Extracurricular activities will be encouraged, and you'll learn of opportunities for non-mandatory, short term internship opportunities and short term placements through Engage and Talent Bank.

Modern health professionals require a broad, inclusive and diverse understanding of the factors that can influence health and wellbeing. This module aims to help you explore both the psychological and sociological factors that can influence and impact health and wellbeing.

Contemporary, current and relevant issues related to health will be examined at individual, community and population levels. You will explore the topic from a variety of positions and frameworks. The module will encourage you to examine and academically interrogate the complexity of health and wellbeing. You'll gain an understanding of how policies, practices and behaviours impact health and disease in real-world scenarios. You'll have the opportunity to gain an understanding of the impact interventions have on societies health, wellbeing and the economy. You will also study the nature of volitional behaviour and explore the role and responsibility that governance and leadership have in promoting sustainable community, societal and global health outcomes. You will consider the possibilities of intervention strategies to improve behaviour-related health at a variety of life stages.

Applied Nutrition introduces you to the inter-disciplinary applications of human nutrition. The module will use fundamental concepts of dietary assessment and nutritional intake estimation to introduce you to the interplay of related scientific disciplines, through an appraisal of their interactions within food systems. A life-course approach is used as a framework in the module, with reading sessions designed to encourage you to reflect on the utility (or not) of methods described within the context of differing socio-demographic, cultural and lifestyle-based factors.

This module revisits and extends your understanding of the fundamental aspects of nutrition and exercise via a practical approach, giving you an opportunity for more “hands-on” experience. You are required to consider the ethical implications of research work and to develop competencies across a wide range of research techniques applicable to the study of nutrition and/or exercise science. This module will prepare you to undertake research work in nutrition and/or exercise science.

This module examines food and nutrition in both dietary and physiological contexts, assessing their contributions to health and disease states, as well as their impact on human performance. Additionally, the module examines the challenges in defining health and disease, as well as determining the most suitable treatment modalities for a particular individual. Key aspects of diet/disease relationships are also examined in relation to nutritional intake and status. Transferable skills, including group work, communication, and presentation, are practised.

This module explores key principles of physiological processes in sport and exercise, and builds on the knowledge and understanding provided by Level 4 modules and further explores the energy systems and their relative metabolic contribution to sport and exercise metabolism. You'll gain an insight into the fundamental aspects of exercise metabolism and a sound understanding of physiological responses to acute and chronic exercise practices. A 'hands-on' learning approach will be applied via regular laboratory practical exposure enabling you to gain confidence in a laboratory setting and become au fait with essential protocols and practices applied in the field of sports and exercise.

This module provides a comprehensive overview of modern biochemistry. Topics include major pathways for the degradation and/or biosynthesis of carbohydrates, fatty acids and amino acids, respiration and oxidative phosphorylation, the role of enzymes in metabolic processes, all underpinned with a stress on underlying thermodynamic principles.

The module will also provide a thorough overview of various strategies (enzyme regulation, cell signaling, etc.) employed by organisms to regulate their metabolism and maintain homeostasis.

Finally, the module will also examine a number of important metabolic disorders and diseases in order to allow you to integrate and apply what you've learnt throughout the module.

The module covers essential elements of research methods, data analysis (as relevant to the Biosciences) and provides you with key laboratory techniques. On completion of the module successfully, you'll have developed the expertise to extract and interpret scientific information from peer-reviewed original sources, have used this information to produce a literature review of a specific area in the biosciences, prepared a design for your final year research project as well undertaken a skill-based evaluation of your competencies (PPP 5.3).

This module provides you with an overview of the role of nutrition in regulating physiological processes associated with sport and exercise performance. Nutritional requirements and recommendations for physically active individuals are covered. Additionally, the module provides an opportunity to assess the efficacy of nutritional strategies designed to enhance athletic performance.

This module introduces you to public health nutrition and the crucial role of public health professionals in implementing interventions in key public health nutrition areas. Additionally, the module will explore the health consequences of malnutrition, diet and sedentary lifestyle and their relationship with communicable and non-communicable diseases. It will also examine public policies, such as the government’s White Paper on improving public health nutrition in England, as well as health initiatives and intervention courses designed to reduce health inequalities. It will also examine the monitoring and evaluation of population measures regarding over- and under-nutrition, healthy lifestyle, adequate physical activity levels, and overall health status.

Students in this module are supervised and guided to design and carry out an independent research project, analyse and interpret the results and report their findings in scientific style. The module covers safe laboratory practices, ethical considerations, study designs, selecting and applying appropriate statistical tools and other aspects of scientific professionalism. Students are also encouraged to think about preparation for entry into the job market or into postgraduate education.

This module will introduce you to advanced and applied concepts in human nutrition, including nutritional needs throughout the life cycle, food habits, eating disorders, nutritional influences on human performance, and non-nutritive substances in food. You will also examine the role of nutrition in the cause and management of various disease states. Examples in the module are drawn from the clinical arena, and data from clinical trials are examined. The clinical significance of research findings is highlighted to reinforce the difference between theoretical and applied concepts in you.

Taking as its focus selected examples of human pathology which represent major health issues in the western and developing world in the 21st century. This module will provide you with the opportunity for the investigation of the pathobiology and the investigation of selected abnormailities via laboratory tests and medical imaging. The specific content will reflect contemporary trends in health and disease, but conditions such as diabetes and obesity, cardiovascular disease, genetic and congenital disorders, inflammatory and infectious disease will form the core of the module. This module will complement the Level 6 Cancer Biology module although the two modules may be taken independently.

This module features lectures on molecular origins and cellular basics of targeted eukaryotic cell engineering, a highly sought-after skill in the life sciences landscape. You'll acquire hands-on training in design of an efficient gene editing workflow, including using computer algorithms. The module will also discuss the advances in gene editing including novel Cas variants, base and prime editing approaches and innovative delivery mechanisms for therapeutic interventions. Opportunities for you to apply and evaluate your learning extensively is perceived as the core of this module.

This module provides you with an overview of nutrition in humanitarian emergencies. The issues covered will include an introduction to the humanitarian charter and global standards for coordination and accountability. It will introduce tools for identifying and addressing context-specific challenges, as well as improving nutrition outcomes in a variety of emergency contexts. The training aligns with the Harmonised Training Package developed in collaboration with the Global Nutrition Cluster. It will include sessions on emergency trends, lessons learned from recent emergencies, early warning systems and disaster risk reduction plans. It will also build transferable skills for preparing and presenting complex information in a clear and concise format to diverse population groups.

This module aims to provide an overview of the relationships between physical activity, sport and psychological health/wellbeing. In particular, the module focuses on the role of physical activity in improving psychological health, both in the general public, young people and vulnerable groups. The module also addresses the role of psychology in encouraging physical activity and health behaviours, and in sports performance including topics such as motivation, group dynamics, psychological skills training, mental toughness and the psychological effects of injuries. You'll evaluate theories and gain a sound understanding of the field through appraisal of evidence-based work. You'll also explore tools and measurements frequently used in research examining the links between physical activity, sports and psychological wellbeing.