Nutrition
MUCH OF THE GLOBAL BURDEN of disease is related to inadequate intake of calories, micronutrients, or certain food groups like fruits, vegetables, meats, nuts, and seeds. Additional burden of disease is associated with excessive intake of the wrong foods. Global food demand has never before increased more rapidly, and the biophysical conditions that underpin our global food production system have never been changing so rapidly. As a result, humanity is enormously vulnerable to health impacts from environmental change mediated through changing access to nutrition.
Learning Objectives
L1: Describe sociocultural, economic and environmental impacts on human nutrition.
L2: Explore the relationship between land use, agriculture, and health.
L3: Examine human food production and consumption patterns in comparison with demographic shifts.
L2: Explore the relationship between land use, agriculture, and health.
L3: Examine human food production and consumption patterns in comparison with demographic shifts.
Teaching Resources
The Future of Food
The Future of Food is an undergraduate introductory-level science course that emphasizes the challenges facing food systems in the 21st century, including issues of sustainability, resilience, and adaptive capacity, and the challenges posed by food insecurity and modern diets to human health and well-being.
→ Teaching tool
Planetary Health Workshop
This workshop created by the Planetary Health Alliance introduces participants to Planetary health and encourages them to brainstorm about possible solutions to urgent global challenges. Participants dive into the implications of environmental changes for one of three selected health impacts -- nutrition, infectious disease, and mental health.
→ Workshop folder
Urban Health Disparities Syllabus
This Howard University course provides students with a foundation for understanding how history, power, privilege and structural inequality interact to produce urban health disparities. It looks at the advantages and disadvantages of urbanization on both physical and mental health and the root causes of racial and ethnic disparities in health and healthcare.
→ Syllabus
Climate Change and Health
(L2, L3) Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health podcast shares an in-depth conversation about the effects of climate change and the steps we can take to reduce the damage.
→ The podcast
→ Teaching tool
Health Impact Assessment of Global Environmental Change
This undergraduate level course will provide students with tools to identify and address real-world global environmental and urban health issues. In addition to reading and discussing subject content to assist in understanding of the issues, students will learn skills to optimize the likelihood of affecting policy change through: 1) the Health Impact Assessment framework; 2) an introduction to environmental health modeling and spatial analysis; and 3) science communication skills. University of Wisconsin-Madison, Spring 2017.
→ Syllabus
→ Weekly Course Topics and Schedule
Ecosystem Approaches to Health Teaching Manual
A teaching manual with sample modules and associated activities for teaching about health and environmental change produced by COPEH-Canada.
→ Español
→ Français
→ English
→ Read more
Climate Information for Public Health Action
With a focus on infectious disease, hydro-meteorological disasters and nutrition, the book explores why, when and how data on the historical, current and future (from days to decades) climate can be incorporated into health decision-making.
→ E-Book
How I Fell in Love With a Fish
(L1, L2, L3) This TedTalk tells a love story for a fish that originated in Argentina on a farm that was created by flooding and restoring a natural ecosystem. As overfishing and current aquaculture practices are highly unsustainable, a proposal to use natural relationships in an ecological model to produce more sustainable fish for food is presented.
→ Watch the video
Drought and War Heighten Threat of Not Just 1 Famine, but 4
(L2, L3, L4) In Somalia and other African countries suffering from drought and famines, lack of clean water and proper hygiene are behind massive outbreaks of communicable diseases in displaced-persons camps.
→ Read more
Global Food Politics and Policy
This Harvard Kennedy School course reviews the political landscape of food and farming, in both rich and poor countries. The course delves into nutrition circumstances that differ as well, as persistent hunger is still a deadly challenge in many tropical countries, while in rich countries, particularly the United States, excessive food consumption and obesity are now a more prominent diet- linked challenge to health.
→ Syllabus
Why Agricultural Diversity Matters to Public Health: The Marsden Farm Study
(L2, L3, L4) This article reports on a 2012 study by Iowa State University that suggests better integration of animal and plant systems can dramatically decrease health issues caused by industry-scale agriculture, mainly groundwater pollution from fertilizers, herbicides, and manure.
→ Read more
Malnutrition and Fish Catch Decline
(L1, L2, L3, L4) This NPR article reports on commentary in Nature from Dr. Chris Golden and co-authors about the risk of micronutrient deficiencies in regions dependent on fish for food. Nutrients from fish cannot easily be replaced in diets, and fish catch rates globally are declining.
→ Read more
Urban Farming: Fixing the Broken Food System & Improving Health
(L2, L4) This TedX talk explores how the current food system produces many negative environmental and health issues. Paul Myers speaks about his health research and startup, Farm Urban, that promotes the use of aquaponics and hydroponics food production systems to inspire people to connect with the environment and make more informed choices.
→ Watch the video
Biodiversity and Health
(L1, L3, L4) This brief report explores the link between biodiversity and human health in medicinal contributions, food security, infectious diseases, green spaces and urban biodiversity, uncertainties and complexities, and policy implications.
→ Teaching tool
The Future of Food is an undergraduate introductory-level science course that emphasizes the challenges facing food systems in the 21st century, including issues of sustainability, resilience, and adaptive capacity, and the challenges posed by food insecurity and modern diets to human health and well-being.
→ Teaching tool
Planetary Health Workshop
This workshop created by the Planetary Health Alliance introduces participants to Planetary health and encourages them to brainstorm about possible solutions to urgent global challenges. Participants dive into the implications of environmental changes for one of three selected health impacts -- nutrition, infectious disease, and mental health.
→ Workshop folder
Urban Health Disparities Syllabus
This Howard University course provides students with a foundation for understanding how history, power, privilege and structural inequality interact to produce urban health disparities. It looks at the advantages and disadvantages of urbanization on both physical and mental health and the root causes of racial and ethnic disparities in health and healthcare.
→ Syllabus
Climate Change and Health
(L2, L3) Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health podcast shares an in-depth conversation about the effects of climate change and the steps we can take to reduce the damage.
→ The podcast
→ Teaching tool
Health Impact Assessment of Global Environmental Change
This undergraduate level course will provide students with tools to identify and address real-world global environmental and urban health issues. In addition to reading and discussing subject content to assist in understanding of the issues, students will learn skills to optimize the likelihood of affecting policy change through: 1) the Health Impact Assessment framework; 2) an introduction to environmental health modeling and spatial analysis; and 3) science communication skills. University of Wisconsin-Madison, Spring 2017.
→ Syllabus
→ Weekly Course Topics and Schedule
Ecosystem Approaches to Health Teaching Manual
A teaching manual with sample modules and associated activities for teaching about health and environmental change produced by COPEH-Canada.
→ Español
→ Français
→ English
→ Read more
Climate Information for Public Health Action
With a focus on infectious disease, hydro-meteorological disasters and nutrition, the book explores why, when and how data on the historical, current and future (from days to decades) climate can be incorporated into health decision-making.
→ E-Book
How I Fell in Love With a Fish
(L1, L2, L3) This TedTalk tells a love story for a fish that originated in Argentina on a farm that was created by flooding and restoring a natural ecosystem. As overfishing and current aquaculture practices are highly unsustainable, a proposal to use natural relationships in an ecological model to produce more sustainable fish for food is presented.
→ Watch the video
Drought and War Heighten Threat of Not Just 1 Famine, but 4
(L2, L3, L4) In Somalia and other African countries suffering from drought and famines, lack of clean water and proper hygiene are behind massive outbreaks of communicable diseases in displaced-persons camps.
→ Read more
Global Food Politics and Policy
This Harvard Kennedy School course reviews the political landscape of food and farming, in both rich and poor countries. The course delves into nutrition circumstances that differ as well, as persistent hunger is still a deadly challenge in many tropical countries, while in rich countries, particularly the United States, excessive food consumption and obesity are now a more prominent diet- linked challenge to health.
→ Syllabus
Why Agricultural Diversity Matters to Public Health: The Marsden Farm Study
(L2, L3, L4) This article reports on a 2012 study by Iowa State University that suggests better integration of animal and plant systems can dramatically decrease health issues caused by industry-scale agriculture, mainly groundwater pollution from fertilizers, herbicides, and manure.
→ Read more
Malnutrition and Fish Catch Decline
(L1, L2, L3, L4) This NPR article reports on commentary in Nature from Dr. Chris Golden and co-authors about the risk of micronutrient deficiencies in regions dependent on fish for food. Nutrients from fish cannot easily be replaced in diets, and fish catch rates globally are declining.
→ Read more
Urban Farming: Fixing the Broken Food System & Improving Health
(L2, L4) This TedX talk explores how the current food system produces many negative environmental and health issues. Paul Myers speaks about his health research and startup, Farm Urban, that promotes the use of aquaponics and hydroponics food production systems to inspire people to connect with the environment and make more informed choices.
→ Watch the video
Biodiversity and Health
(L1, L3, L4) This brief report explores the link between biodiversity and human health in medicinal contributions, food security, infectious diseases, green spaces and urban biodiversity, uncertainties and complexities, and policy implications.
→ Teaching tool
Research
Articles
Articles