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Undergraduate Study in Human Nutrition

As individuals we are involved in human nutrition everyday just in the fact we eat to keep alive. During your undergraduate study you will learn about how the nutrients in food influence your health via a combination of lectures, hands on laboratory classes and small group case study type tutorials. The skills and knowledge you obtain during your degree can lead into a variety of career pathways. 

Human Nutrition offers a variety of papers and minors to undergraduate students who are not majoring in Nutrition. These include HUNT141 Understanding Human Nutrition, HUNT245 Sport and Exercise Nutrition, HUNT241 Fundamentals of Nutrients and Health, HUNT242 Nutritional Assessment and HUNT243 Lifecycle Nutrition.

Students intending to study any of the degrees in Human Nutrition are strongly recommended to take:

  • Year 12 (NCEA Level 2) Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics with Statistics, and English, and
  • Year 13 (NCEA Level 3) Mathematics with Statistics and particularly Chemistry
  • For the BAppSc (Sport & Exercise Nutrition), Physical Education is recommended in Year 12 and Year 13 (NCEA Levels 2 & 3)
  • For the Bachelor of Biomedical Science, you should also study Physics in Year 13 (NCEA Level 3)

Undergraduate degrees you can enrol in include:

Information about the Department of Human Nutrition's minor options can be found here.

An undergraduate degree consists of 360 point of which 180 points must be above 100-level and of that 72 points must be above 200-level.

Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Human Nutrition

A BSc majoring in Human Nutrition would typically include the following papers:

100-level papers pts
*CHEM 191 The Chemical Basis of Biology and Chemical Health 18
*BIOC 192 Foundations of Biochemistry 18
*HUBS 191 Human Body Systems 1 18
*HUBS 192 Human Body Systems 2 18
*HUNT 141 Understanding Human Nutrition 18 90
200-level papers
*HUNT 241 Fundamentals of Nutrients and Health 18
*HUNT 242 Nutritional Assessment 18
*HUNT 243 Lifecycle Nutrition 18 54
300-level papers
*HUNT 341 Nutrition and Behaviour Change Communication 18
*HUNT 342 Nutrition and Chronic Diseases 18
*HUNT 343 Community and Public Health Nutrition 18
One of HUNT 345 Applied Sport and Exercise Nutrition or HUNT 346 International Nutrition and Health18 72
Total 216

*Major subject requirement. +Highly recommended.

The remaining points (144) can be made up of optional papers (HUNT 245 Sport and Exercise Nutrition).  Students intending to apply for admission into the Master of Dietetics programme must include all of the papers listed above as well as:

HUNT 244 Foodservice Environments 18
HUNT 344 Foodservice Management 36
Total 54

To progress to postgraduate study in Human Nutrition, for example, a Postgraduate Diploma in Science, BSc(Hons) or a two-year Master of Science degree it is important students also included in their undergraduate degree the highly recommended papers listed above.

Bachelor of Applied Science (BAppSc) in Sport and Exercise Nutrition

This undergraduate degree  looks at how sport, exercise and food influence health and human performance.
Students must include a minor in their BAppSc degree - for those wishing to go onto the Master of Dietetics they should complete the Supplementary Nutritional Science (SUNS) plus the remaining HUNT paper.
A BAppSc majoring in sport and exercise nutrition would typically include the following papers:

100-level paperspts
*CHEM 191 The Chemical Basis of Biology and Chemical Health18
*BIOC 192 Foundations of Biochemistry18
*HUBS 191 Human Body Systems 118
*HUBS 192 Human Body Systems 218
*HUNT 141 Understanding Human Nutrition1890
200-level papers
Two of HUNT 241 - 24336
*HUNT 245 Sport and Exercise Nutrition18
*SPEX 201 Biomechanics and SPEX 203 Exercise Physiology or
*SPEX 204 Psychology of Sport and Exercise and SPEX 205 Physical Activity and Health1872
300-level papers
*Two of HUNT 341 - HUNT 34336
HUNT 345 Applied Sport and Exercise Nutrition18
SPEX 303 Exercise Energetics and Physiology and SPEX 305 Athletic Conditioning and Rehabilitation or
SPEX 308 Psychology of Physical Activity and SPEX 309 Active Living and Environment3690
Total 252

*Major subject requirement. +Highly recommended.

The BAppSc (Sport and Exercise Nutrition) degree requires a total of 360 points. The remaining 90 points are made up of the papers for the minor and other approved papers. We recommend that students take the minor in Supplementary Nutritional Science (SUNS). However, there are other minors that you may choose to take. Refer to the Guide to Enrolment for the list of minors offered.

Supplementary Nutritional Science

100-Level POPH192
200-Level two of HUNT 241 - 244
300-Level two of HUNT 341 - 343 or HUNT 344

Total 90 points

Pre-requisites for HUNT 241 include BIOC 192, CHEM 191, HUBS 191, 192.

View our list of frequently asked questions

How will I study as an undergraduate of Human Nutrition?

Your study will consist of:

  • lectures
  • tutorials
  • seminars
  • self-directed learning
  • practical laboratories
  • group work
  • journal discourse

One of the great things about studying human nutrition is that you learn about your own food choices and how you eat.

In both the second and third year you will be a human guinea pig participating in dietary interventions to find out how your body responds to different foods and meals. You will also learn about how nutrients affect human health and how deficiency or excess might lead to disease. If you take the food service papers, you will design a meal plan then oversee the cooking and serving of this plan to over 100 residential college students.

Assessment is a combination of tests, assignments, reports, scientific articles and presentations done individually and in groups. The team at the department are renowned for being helpful and friendly. They ensure you get plenty of feedback during your study and seek feedback from you also.