NUTRITION EDUCATION/COACHING

The Cuesta College Nutrition certificate program offers students a variety of interesting and challenging courses for students to learn about chemicals and nutrients in food and their effects on the human body and the world.  The study of nutritional science contributes to preparing students for careers as nutritionists, registered dietitians (RD), food scientists, or other dietetics professionals. Cuesta College offers a Nutrition certificate that provides a broad foundation in a practical and personally applicable exposure to a variety of scientific areas of nutrition such as chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology, anatomy, physiology, and biology. Popular topics include microbial pathogens, environmental contaminants, nutrigenomics, macronutrient balance, energy metabolism, obesity, global issues, biochemistry of exercise, and micronutrient and phytochemical utilization. Students in the program learn how the scientific method and process contributes to nutritional requirements and how nutrients function from a cellular to more practical level, and then apply this knowledge to their own health. The program ultimately helps students understand the role of nutrition in disease prevention throughout the lifecycle and as an impact on society as a whole. Select Cuesta College Nutrition courses meet college requirements in GE, Liberal Arts, and Diversity and are offered in both face-to-face and Distance Education modalities. Select Nutrition courses are also a part of 10 degrees and certificates at Cuesta College. Students finishing this certificate will be better prepared to educate and coach peers one-on-one, give practical advice on nutrition when combined with personal training certifications, and work for community partners in nutrition education entry level jobs.

 Program Outcomes

1. Explain the basis of the scientific method as it is used in developing hypotheses and theories, then apply the scientific method-based research, such as in peer-reviewed intervention, epidemiological, lab, and case studies, to the critical evaluation of nutrition-related literature and media, thus differentiating between proven scientific based research and myth.
2. Develop a basic understanding of the basic chemical structure of the six classes of nutrients and the substances therein; their action, interaction, and balance in relation to health and disease; and the process by which the human body ingests, digests, absorbs, transports, utilizes and excretes food substances.
3. Judge the effect of nutrition, hydration, and lifestyle factors that contribute to chronic diseases (and leading causes of death in the United States), then establish goals and assess one’s own diet for nutritional adequacy, practically apply lifestyle changes, through food label-reading, food safety practices, and altered dietary choices, which are personalized for the individual’s nutrient and phytochemical needs based on health status, body weight differences and goals, optimal sports performance, differing lifecycle stages, and differing environmental conditions.
4. Evaluate food customs of a specific culture and incorporate sources based on reliability and credibility; Assess the stigmatization, prejudice and/or discrimination experienced by individuals or groups who choose to adhere to non Western and/or non dominant food practices and recommend strategies to facilitate their acceptance.
5. Evaluate and analyze the diets of peers and give thoughtful and practical advice for improvement.

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To add select courses to give more strength to the certificate for students learning about nutrition so that they can educate and coach others in one-on-one peer education, Wellness development, and for working for community partners in nutrition education entry level jobs.

Four credits in core courses and 12 credits in specialty courses on in Nutrition.