Public Health Nutrition (Hons)

Overview

This exciting Public Health Nutrition (Hons) programme from Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology is the first of its kind in the west of Ireland. 

Public Health Nutritionists develop, implement and evaluate nutrition policies and programmes, generating the evidence base and applying scientific knowledge to ensure understanding of the impact of food and diet on health and wellbeing of people and communities, and improving the diet, nutrition and health of people and communities.

With the increased number of the population suffering from, or at risk of developing, lifestyle-related chronic diseases, more individuals require assistance with nutritional management. 

As a result, there is an urgent need for suitably qualified individuals to work in the health sectors.

Public health nutrition has been gaining popularity as an area of study to meet this growing demand.

Career Opportunities

Career opportunities in this field are developing rapidly for graduates with an understanding of the connections between nutrition and public health.

Specific job opportunities for public health nutrition graduates have included health improvement, addressing inequalities in nutrition and health, nutrition advocacy, the prevention of non-communicable diseases, developing/commissioning and implementing policies and programmes, monitoring, evaluation and assessment of diet in groups/communities, education and generating research evidence linking food/nutrients and health across a range of employers.

These include:

• Advisory positions in weight management, healthy eating or similar

• Advisory positions in food safety and health, e.g. Food Safety Authority of Ireland

• Broader roles in health promotion and health improvement

• Project delivery or advisory work with government agencies, e.g. HSE, local authorities

• Research and data analysis at public health observatories and various higher education institutes

• Work in food industry, e.g. Kellogg's, Nestle, Danone, Glanbia

• Food in schools initiatives

• National nutrition assessment groups

• Infant and maternal nutrition, e.g. UNICEF, Healthy Start

• International work in public health, e.g. World Food Programme, World Health Organisation