The Department of Nutrition is committed to extending science-based information to the public through local, state, national and international channels. Research helps formulate policies, nutrition recommendations, and provides guidance to improve the health and nutritional status of the individual and populations. Examples include the establishment of new child growth standards, school garden and nutrition education programs, and other programs to reduce the prevalence of chronic diseases. Below are publications and resources created by Nutrition Department faculty that are available to the general public.
Nutrition and Health
Nutrition and Health Info Sheets
Information sheets created by Dr. Rachel Scherr and staff that cover items of interest in the area of Nutrition such as energy drinks, fiber, soy, or St. John´s wort.
Nutrition Perspectives
A bimonthly publication prepared by Dr. Anna Jones, Dr. Rachel Scherr, and staff. This publication is designed to provide research-based information on ongoing nutrition and food-related programs.
Healthy Cooking 101
The Department of Nutrition provided a "Cooking 101" course in fall of 2018 to provide outreach and engagement to students in the college and to support student food literacy and security. Students were taught about healthy eating and meal planning through an interactive cooking class. The students were shown how to prepare seasonally available ingredients in a few easy and healthy ways. The cooking demonstration featured ingredients that students can get through Fruit and Veggie Up and the Pantry on campus. The CalFresh Program also presented information about resources to assist students in signing up for SNAP benefits. This program was a joint effort between Undergraduate Academic Programs (UAP) in the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences Dean's Office and the Departments of Nutrition and Food Science and Technology.
Faculty Contact: Joan Frank, M.S., R.D.N.
Feeling Fine Online
Feeling Fine Online is a web site contains new, research-based information made available by means of brief video presentations on such topics as "Health Benefits of Dietary Flavanols" with UCD Nutrition faculty member Dr. Carl Keen, how to "Eat Smart, Play Hard" with UCD Nutrition faculty member Dr. Liz Applegate, and "Flavanols and Vascular Health in Postmenopausal Women" with UCD Nutrition faculty member Robert Hackman.
Child/School Nutrition
Center for Nutrition in Schools
The UC Davis Center for Nutrition in Schools was established in response to the needs of teachers and administrators for nutrition education resources and professional development opportunities. The mission of the Center for Nutrition in Schools is to support the school community by providing research-based nutrition education programs and resources that improve student health and assist students in achieving their full potential academically, socially, and physically.
Nutrition to Grow On
An innovative curriculum was created for grades four through six that offers teachers a direct link between the garden and nutrition education. Nine lessons are designed to teach children and their families about nutrition by relating each lesson to a garden activity.
Discovering Healthy Choices
Discovering Healthy Choices is a learner-centered, garden-enhanced nutrition curriculum that was developed for the Nutrition Education Promotion component of the Shaping Healthy Choices Program. The objective of this curriculum is to facilitate understanding of nutrition concepts and development of problem-solving skills so youth can make evidence-based decisions about the foods they eat. This is a free, downloadable resource.
Cooking Up Healthy Choices
Cooking Up Healthy Choices is a learner-centered curriculum of cooking demonstrations that highlight seasonal produce and allows students to observe cooking techniques, deepen understanding of nutrition concepts, and experience recipes using all five senses. The recipes featured in Cooking Up Healthy Choices are represent foods from different cultures, and include a variety of fruit and vegetables. This is a free, downloadable resource.
Connecting the Dots
In conjunction with California Department of Education, Drs. Rachel Scherr, Marilyn Briggs, and Sheri Zidenberg-Cherr have created a set of nutrition competencies and a competency-based resource guide. Connecting the Dots was created as a way for child care providers and teachers of preschool-aged children to have an array of teaching materials that cover the Nutrition Competencies and Grade Level Expectations.
Nutrition Education Competencies
Produced by department members in collaboration with the California Department of Education, these documents provide comprehensive goals for nutrition education for California's children. Nutrition Education Competencies are available for both Kindergarten-Grade 12 and Pre-Kindergarten groups. More information is available in a recent article published in California Agriculture.
EatFit.net
An interactive application created by Mical Shilts, Marcel Horwitz, and Dr. Marilyn Townsend intended to aid middle school students in personal dietary analysis and "guided goal setting".
Contact: Marilyn Townsend, Ph.D.
Community Nutrition
UCCE Community Nutrition
Dr. Lucia Kaiser maintains the UC Cooperative Extension Community Nutrition website, which provides research updates, nutrition education resources, and evaluation tools that can help those working in the community to support Americans in adopting healthy lifestyles and improving the food environment.
Faculty Contact: Lucia Kaiser, Ph.D.
UC Davis Human Lactation Center
The UC Davis Human Lactation Center provides a focal point for communication among researchers, clinicians, policy-makers and educators to assure that the latest research-based information is made available to those working with lactating women and their infants.
Faculty Contact: M. Jane Heinig, Ph.D.
International Nutrition
Nutrition News for Africa
Nutrition News for Africa is a monthly electronic newsletter whose aim is to disseminate state-of-the-art research and policy papers to scientists, program planners, policy makers, and opinion leaders working in the field of public health nutrition in Africa. The newsletter is prepared as a collaborative effort of Helen Keller International (HKI) and the Institute for Global Nutrition (IGN) of the University of California, Davis.
Faculty Contact: Sonja Hess, Ph.D.
Global Nutrition Seminar Videos
The weekly seminar in Global Nutrition provides students and faculty from different departments with an opportunity to discuss a variety of research topics and programmatic issues related to international and community nutrition. The format ranges from formal presentations of research findings and programmatic experiences by outside speakers and UC Davis professors to informal, critical discussions of recent scientific articles or preliminary data from student or faculty research projects. Videos of selected seminars are available online.
Faculty Contact: Christine Stewart, Ph.D.