Cancer has overtaken cardiovascular disease (CVD) as the leading cause of death in many parts of the world. It causes one in eight deaths worldwide. Global trends show that the majority of all cancer deaths occur in the low- and middle-income countries. Yet, cancer can be partly prevented and many of these deaths can be avoided.
Discover the latest insights on the role of diet, nutrition and lifestyle in the prevention, occurrence and progression of cancer in the free open and online course Nutrition and Cancer.
Content of the 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 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, treatment, and progression. And you will discover what the evidence-base is for dietary guidelines.
This 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 , breast, prostate, and lung cancer.
Dieticians and physicians often get questions from cancer patients about what they can do themselves to help their recovery process. After comleting 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 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
- Study designs to investigate the relation between nutrition and cancer
- Diet- and lifestyle-related risk factors for cancer development and survival
- The mechanisms by which nutrition impacts cancer
- Guidelines for primary and tertiary cancer prevention for the general public and for survivors
- Understand the evidence-base for dietary guidelines
Professional Certificate Programme
Want to learn more? Earn a professional certificate by completing the Professional Certificate Programme Nutrition and Disease. This programme consistst of two MOOCs: Nutrition, Heart disease and Diabetes and Nutrition and Cancer. In the Professional Certificate Programme Nutrition and Disease, you will learn about the interaction between nutrients, diets and cardiometabolic disease (heart disease and diabetes).