Community Food and Nutrition Skills
Level 2
This course is for you if you work with individuals, families or community groups and you would like to be able to pass on evidence-based, consistent food and nutrition messages to others and to deliver level 1 accredited food and nutrition skills courses. This course will develop your knowledge and skills in food and nutrition and provide you with ideas and resources to use with community groups supporting them to eat well.
There are 10 sessions, usually delivered as one session per week for 10 weeks. Courses can be delivered in 2 ways, either
- face to face as a 2 hour group teaching session in a community venue each week with one hour of homework, or
- virtually as a 2 hours self directed digital learning session and a 1-hour virtual face to face group session with a dietitian each week. The sessions cover the following topics
| Session | Content |
|---|---|
| 1 | Healthy eating guidelines and the Eatwell Guide |
| 2 | Nutrition and health |
| 3 | Healthy weight management |
| 4 | Factors affecting food choice and eating well on a limited budget |
| 5 | Barriers to a healthy diet and helping people change their eating behaviours |
| 6 | Food labelling |
| 7 | Nutrition for specific population groups: e.g. infants, children, pregnant women, older adults (choose 2 groups) Group 1 |
| 8 | Nutrition for specific population groups: Group 2 |
| 9 | Menu planning and adapting recipes |
| 10 | Food facts and myths & useful food and nutrition resources |
The Community Food and Nutrition Skills course is set at a level two and is worth three credits (30 guided learning hours). Accreditation demonstrate the level of learning you have achieved and to be awarded credit you must be able to demonstrate that you have met all the assessment criteria for the unit. No prior nutrition knowledge is required, there are no exams or essays to worry about, but to prove that you have met the assessment criteria you will be required to complete a portfolio of evidence for assessment. Attendance at the sessions is also an important part of the assessment.
The course tutor will support you with all aspects of the course and there will be support available after the course for those who want to put their learning into practice e.g. to implement and meet the food and nutrition component of the Healthy Schools Scheme and National Quality Award; to deliver the Food and Fun nutrition education sessions; to deliver Foodwise for Life or Foodwise in Pregnancy community healthy lifestyle programmes or to deliver and assess accredited level 1 Community Food and Nutrition Skills, Get Cooking or Come and Cook courses.
Feedback from participants
“From the first week, I knew I needed to make changes.”
“When you are on the course with the other women, you are actually embedding it, so it gives you the motivation to want to do it”.
“You can get so much from the internet, but obviously face to face doing a course like that you tend to get a more in-depth knowledge of it”.
“I have learnt the importance of a well-balanced diet and how I can deliver this to Key Stage 2 children in a way that can keep them interested and enthusiastic.”
“It was a lovely course with good knowledge and experience and lovely friendly staff”