Clinical Nutrition – from practice to research questions

ITP did not happen on the dates mentioned, it is postponed to a later (yet to be determined) date in 2021 or 2022.

The idea for this ITP is based on the worrying trend of the nutrition transition in several South countries in combination with the unprepared health systems. Series of changes in diet, physical activity, health and nutrition are collectively known as the 'nutrition transition’ and coincide with obesity and diabetes. As poor countries become more prosperous, they acquire some of the benefits along with some of the problems of industrialized nations. The prevention of these diseases is a key priority as recently mentioned in the Rome Declaration on Nutrition that mentions that the right of everyone to have access to safe, sufficient and nutritious food, and commits governments to preventing malnutrition in all its forms, including hunger, micronutrient deficiencies and obesity. The latter is in line with the current Sustainable Development Goals.  However, as there is nevertheless a raise in these non-communicable diseases optimal treatment is necessary. Many South Countries have focused on the prevention aspect of nutrition and developed high-level community nutrition trainings, however as they are currently confronted with a specific request of optimal treatments of several nutrition-related diseases there is a high need for a course in clinical nutrition and further building on the research capacities. The need for this course is in line with the current large health professional-population ratio in South countries, and the current inability of several education systems to develop human capital that can innovatively respond to emerging health challenges in the domain of nutrition.

A blended learning approach, existing of three phases will be used. The first phase focusses on determining and equalizing prior-knowledge of the different participants and on the identification and construction of a real-life clinical treatment question to be tackled during the on-site training. The next phase will focus on the evidence-based solving of the question and the identification of research-gaps in dialogue with other ITP-participants, international collaborators, and UZ and KU Leuven experts in a two-week on-site training. The third and final phase of the ITP-course will focus on the transfer of the knowledge and skills acquired in the previous two phases to the participants’ local context with a focus on research capacities.