營養流行病學

• This biennial course is at an intermediate to advanced level. Students should have completed the required courses in epidemiology and biostatistics to achieve a better learning outcome. • SAS codes for analytical assignments will be provided, but we will not extensively cover the basics of SAS coding in class. If you are not familiar with SAS, it is recommended to consider taking other courses that cover SAS techniques and coding. • The course will include in-class lectures and discussions. Classes will consist of a 1-hour online video for class preview and pre-class homework, followed by a 1-hour in-class discussion of the homework and an additional 1-hour in-class discussion on advanced issues for that topic. • In addition to regular homework assignments, students will work on two term projects in teams. The mid-term project involves the development of an evidence-based food frequency questionnaire, and the final project focuses on a secondary data-analytical project related to nutritional epidemiology. For both projects, we will provide example datasets for practice. After completing the course, students will acquire abilities to: 1. Understand the practical values of epidemiology in public health nutrition 2. Be familiar with methodological considerations on dietary and nutritional status assessments 3. Conduct epidemiological analysis for complex nutrition research questions and interpret the results 4. Critically read and analyze nutritional epidemiology literature, esp. accurately appraise and interpret the quantitative evidence 5. Compare the strengths and limitations of study designs, dietary assessments, and analytical approaches



1. Course participation, oral presentations and discussion: 30% 2. Three lab reports: 45% (The three lab reports should be written and submitted individually): a. Midterm FFQ development: Although the FFQ is a team work. Students submit his/her own report on the FFQ development. The students should describe the items on his/her own in the report. Due on 11/3. i. Overview the purposes and structure/format of the FFQ ii. Discuss the decisions they make during the FFQ development, and discuss the reasons behind the decisions. iii. Discuss any challenges the group faces and the solution. b. Lab 1 report on energy-adjustment analysis: Follow the lab instruction and worksheet to do the analysis and prepare the lab report. Due on 12/3. c. Lab 2 report on dietary patterns analysis: Follow the lab instruction and worksheet to do the analysis and prepare the lab report. Due on 12/17. 3. Final reports: 25% (Due on 12/31) Please follow STROBE-NE format to prepare the report (individual work). There are 2 checkpoints of the group project for your final report. a. Checkpoint 1 (11/10): Prepare a brief presentation on 1-2 interested research questions of a nutritional epidemiology data analysis project (using the NHANES data). Describe the rationale behind the research questions. Follow STROBE Method section to prepare the presentation. (12-15 minutes) b. Checkpoint 2 (12/22): Prepare a brief presentation (in group) of your progress. Follow STROBE Method, Results, and Discussion sections to prepare the presentation. (15-20 minutes)

Willett, W. (2013). Nutritional epidemiology (ed.3). Oxford university press. Gibson, R. S. (2005). Principles of nutritional assessment (ed. 2). Oxford university press, USA.