Sub-Department of Nutrition

Scientific research and teaching within the sub-department are focused on the assessment of the quality of diet of specific population groups and development of adequate instruments for such assessments (e.g. food frequency questionnaires).

Sub-department's courses provide substantial amount of research evidence on the importance of a balanced diet in meeting the needs i.e. recommended intakes to improve health status and reduce the risk for a number of nutrition-related diseases. General knowledge about the dietary sources of nutrients and biologically important components, combined with the knowledge of the anatomy of the digestive system and the digestion of food, along with their influence on the body, provide the basis for students' diet planning for all population groups.

Students will be able to:

• assess the state of nourishment of an individual and groups
• apply various methods to assess dietary intake
• plan a diet for healthy people of all ages in accordance to the current recommendations
• assess relation between diet and health
• plan a diet for people with a medical condition

Research areas are focused on:

• collaboration with other institutions on the development of a multifunctional on-line food composition database;
• research of dietary and lifestyle habits of different age (eg. children, adolescents) and population (eg. students, athletes) groups in the Republic of Croatia and their analysis by regions and comparison with other countries;
• assessment of functional characteristics of different foods and effectiveness of supplements, especially plant-based supplements through research on human subjects;
• determining the link between dietary and lifestyle habits along with other characteristics (like age and sex) on the risk for the development of various diseases, as well as progression of existing health conditions (especially chronic diseases) and their impact on the quality of life and the society as whole;
• application of the evidence-based methodology, i.e. meta-analysis and systematic review methodology as tools to strengthen nutrition recommendations for the prevention and/or treatment of various health conditions (i.e. evidence-based practice in nutrition).

Chairman:

Ines Banjari, PhD, Full Professor