Discover how nutrition shapes the human body, health, and eating behaviour.

This minor offers a unique blend of physiology, nutritional science, epidemiology, and eating behaviour. You will learn how the body functions, how nutrients influence health, why people eat the way they do, and how to design research that answers these questions. It is ideal for students who want to understand how diet and lifestyle contribute to a healthy society and how scientific insights can be translated into practical applications, policies, or interventions.

Completing this minor offers a clear academic progression route for those who wish to deepen their expertise in nutrition and health sciences. 

The course Principles of Human Physiology (HAP10306, period 3) provides a solid foundation in human physiology, exploring how organs, hormones, the cardiovascular system, and metabolism work together to maintain balance in the body. You then deepen your knowledge in Food Components and Health (HNH32206, period 2 afternoons), examining how macro- and micronutrients are processed and how they affect bodily functions.

Beyond biological mechanisms, you will explore how nutrition operates in real life: through Nutrition Behaviour (HNH20306, period 2 mornings), which connects psychological, social, and biological drivers of food choice, and through Nutrition Research Methodologies (HNH24306, period 1, mornings) and Introduction to Epidemiology and Public Health (HNH24806, period 1 afternoons), which teach you how to draw reliable conclusions about health and dietary patterns at the population level.

After successful completion of this minor students are expected to be able to:

• Apply fundamental knowledge of human physiology
• Analyse nutrients and their effects on human health
• Explain nutrition behaviour from a multidisciplinary perspective
• Design and critically evaluate nutrition and health research
• Apply basic epidemiological and public-health principles to nutrition and lifestyle
• Integrate biological, behavioural and population-level insights to assess nutrition and health issues

HBO students Nutrition and Dietetics and other HBO programmes

Textbooks used in the courses are listed in de detailed course descriptions listed above.

In many cases e-book versions of textbooks are available for students, once enrolled, through the Wageningen University Library.

Courses in Wageingen are offered throughout the week Monday-Friday. 

Period 4 has 6 credits and runs for 4 weeks, with usually 1 course of 6 credits.
Peirod 5 and 6 both have 12 credits, run for 8 weeks and usually have one course in the morning and another in the afternoon. 

The detailed schedule of each course is published on TimeEdit, and linked from the course-links given above.  

The annual calendar can be found online.  

Each course has it's own set of assessment methods. This is outlined in the course description linked above.

Upon passing all courses of the minor, the minor is successfully completed.

Written tests of courses can be taken twice each academic year. Once when the course is attended, and once in a subsequent resit period. 
Details on when a written test of a course can be re-taken, are listed in the linked course-descriptions.    

For questions about this minor, contact the Programme Team Nutrition and Health  @ mnh@wur.nl