Ellen Kampman
Chair in Nutrition and Disease at Wageningen University & Research.
Nutrition and Cancer
WURAbout This Course
Can cancer risk be reduced through a healthy diet or lifestyle? Many studies have been conducted on the role of nutrition and physical activity in cancer prevention. This has resulted in recommendations for cancer prevention. Far less research is conducted on nutrition and cancer progression, but the evidence is increasing that a healthy diet may also play a beneficial role for cancer survivors. Join this online course and learn more about the role of nutrition in the occurrence and progression of cancer. You will learn how nutrition is involved in cancer occurrence, cancer treatment, and progression. And you will discover what the evidence-base is for dietary guidelines.
This online course focuses on a wide range of dietary exposures (including vegetables, meat, dietary supplements, alcohol) and lifestyle factors (including body composition and physical activity) in relation to the occurrence and progression of the most common types of cancer, such as large bowel cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, and lung cancer.
For whomDieticians and physicians often get questions from cancer patients about what they can do themselves to help their recovery process. After completing the course you will have gained a solid scientific basis to better weigh and interpret all the information available on nutrition and cancer and to take care of your own health and/or that of your patients.
This online course is especially valuable for professionals (in training) from various fields related to nutrition or cancer (e.g. nutritionists, epidemiologists, health policy makers, physicians, caregivers, nutrition educators, biologists and food scientists).
What You Will Learn
After successful completion of this course, you will be able to:
- Study designs to investigate the relation between nutrition and cancer.
- Identify diet- and lifestyle-related risk factors for cancer development and survival.
- Understand the mechanisms by which nutrition impacts cancer.
- Apply guidelines for primary and tertiary cancer prevention for the general public and for cancer survivors.
- Understand the evidence base for dietary guidelines.
Grow these skills
Nutritional Epidemiology
Research Design
Evidence-Based Decision Making
Dietary Risk Assessment
Lifestyle Risk Assessment
Nutrigenomics
Cancer Survivorship Care
Dietary Guidelines
Health Communication
Public Health Nutrition
Critical Appraisal of Evidence
Curriculum
5 Weeks, 6-8 hours per week
Module 1: Genes, Lifestyle, or just Bad Luck?
Start with an introduction to the relation between nutrition and cancer development and progression, and discuss the different types of research designs by which this relation is studied.
Module 2: Nutrition and Cancer Occurrence
Discuss dietary and lifestyle risk factors related to cancer occurrence by outlining the current WCRF/IARC evidence-based recommendations for cancer prevention.
Module 3: Diet-Gene Interactions
Learn about the interaction between nutrition and genes, and how this can influence cancer occurrence.
Module 4: Nutrition and Cancer Treatment and Survival
Learn about the importance of dietary and lifestyle guidelines for the increasing group of cancer survivors.
Module 5: Communication to the Public
In this module, you will learn about adherence to guidelines and how important it is to communicate clearly and correctly with the public. (This module is only accessible to verified learners.)
Requirements
The level of the course is Introductory. The prerequisites are secondary school or a first/second year BSc.
Meet the instructors
Fränzel van Duijnhoven
Associate Professor in Human Nutrition and Health at Wageningen University & Research.
Dieuwertje Kok
Associate Professor in Nutrition and Cancer at Wageningen University & Research.