Online Nutrition for Weight Loss Course

How to lose weight by managing the diet.

Weight gain and loss is a complex process that includes factors such as genetics, lifestyle, psychology, exercise, and nutrition. This is a holistic course that focuses specifically on nutritional aspects of weight management. This practical course takes the student through a thorough understanding of obesity, factors affecting obesity, the role of food in weight gain, and ways to treat obesity and manage weight through diet.

This knowledge is vitally important in this day and age where obesity has reached epidemic proportions.

Graduates can apply their knowledge in a range of contexts:

• In their own homes for themselves, and their loved ones
• In a community setting, supporting the local community
• With their existing client base (for example for personal trainers, life coaches, and counsellors)
• In conjunction with a health professional as a support service 

There are 9 lessons in this course:

1. Understanding Obesity
   • What is obesity
   • ‘Types’ of Obesity ... Hyperplasia or Hypertrophy of Fats Cells
   • Dietary Trends and the Incidence of Obesity
   • Factors Influencing Food Intake and Habits
   • Physiological factors which determine food intake
   • Environmental and behavioural factors which determine food intake:
   • Causes of Obesity (Genetics, Lifestyle, Exercise, Eating habits, Water intake, Changing metabolism through life, Medical conditions and disease, Psychology)
   • Health Risks of Obesity
   • Understanding Weight
   • Body composition
   • Evaluation Techniques
   • Body Mass Index (BMI)
2. Nutrition Basics
   • Why we need food
   • Nutrient Reference Value (NRV)
   • Understanding Digestion and Absorption
   • How we process food
   • Basic Roles of Major Digestive Organs
   • Food Composition (Carbohydrates, Protens, Fats, etc)
   • Fibre
   • Need for Fluids
   • The Glycaemic Index (GI)
   • Calculating Energy Requirements
   • Basal Metabolic Rate
   • Food Pyramid and Recommended Daily Intake (RDI)
   • What is the recommended intake of nutrients?
   • New food pyramid and normal eating patterns
   • Childhood Obesity
3. Diets -Fads, Fiction and Fact
   • A Review of Popular Approaches to Weight Loss and Control
   • Vegetarian Diets
   • Starvation
   • Very Low Calorie and Liquid Diets
   • Commercial Low Calorie Meal Substitutes
   • Commercial Low Calorie Meal Substitutes
   • Blood type diet
   • Food combining
   • Detox Diets
   • Low carbohydrate diets
   • Low Glycaemic index diet (low GI)
   • Sweeteners
   • Low fat diets
   • Fat Substitutes
   • Fat burning diets
   • Supplements
   • Guidelines for Childhood Weight Loss
4. Preventing Obesity
   • Introduction
   • Metabolism ... Keeping the Metabolic Rate Stable
   • Making the best food choices
   • Nutritional Education
   • Teaching Healthy Eating Habits to Children
   • Health Initiatives Targeting Obesity
   • Public Health Information
   • Legislative controls
5. Treating Obesity
   • Methods that Work
   • Assessment of Clients or Patients
   • Modifying Behaviour
   • Prescribing Diets
   • Life Coach and Personal Trainer
   • Weight Loss Hypnosis
   • Self-help Groups
   • Health Clubs, Health Farms and Holiday Retreats
   • A Holistic Approach
   • Supplements
6. Modifying Eating Behaviour
   • Key Stages in Behaviour Changes
   • Cultural food patterns
   • How to Make Lifelong Changes
   • Assess Current Diet (patterns and nutritional value)
   • Plan for Change
   • Seek Motivation and Support from Others
   • Improving Health Through Food
   • Diseases Linked to Obesity
   • Changing Unhealthy Habits
7. Restricting Calorie Intake
   • Understanding Energy and Metabolism
   • Metabolism
   • Energy Metabolism
   • Age (Growth and Aging) and Metabolism
   • Activity and Metabolism
   • Calorie Restricted Diets
8. Medical Conditions: Hormones, Drugs, Eating Disorders
   • Nutrition During Disease
   • Childhood Diabetes
   • Link between Medication and Diet
   • Drugs and Hormones Prescribed for Weight Management
   • Diet Pills
   • Thyroid hormone
   • Somatropin (Growth Hormone
   • Weight Loss Surgery
   • Lipoplasty (Liposuction)
   • Abdominoplasty (Tummy tuck)
   • Anorexia Nervosa
   • Bulimia Nervosa
9. Planning a Diet
   • A major Problem Based Learning Project

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

For more information on this course, please request your free course information pack.