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HNSC 7244X: Nutritional Epidemiology

OER by Margrethe F. Horlyck-Romanovsky

What class is this?

Semester: FALL 2024

Class time: Online synchronous

Class location: Online

Who's teaching?

InstructorProfessor Margrethe Horlyck-Romanovsky, white woman wearing glasses smiling.: Margrethe F. Horlyck-Romanovsky

Office location: Room 439 West Quad or Online in Blackboard Collaborate Classroom

Office hour: Thursdays 5:30-6:30 PM

Contact email: MargretheHR@brooklyn.cuny.edu

Office phone: 718-951-5000, Ext. 2753


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Anti-Racist Pedagogy

Anti-racist pedagogy can be applied to any academic discipline as a way to explain and address the pervasiveness of racism. This framework calls on actively acknowledging and opposing racism by leveraging tools and strategies to design inclusive courses with more representation.

"Anti-racist pedagogy is not about simply incorporating racial content into courses, curriculum, and discipline. It is also about how one teaches, even in courses where race is not the subject matter." (Kishimoto, 2018, p.540).  Anti-racist pedagogy requires students and instructors to engage in critical analysis and self-reflection to reveal structural inequities. 

Citation: Chew, S., Houston, A., and Cooper, A. "1.3 What is Anti-Racist Pedagogy?" In The Anti-Racist Discussion Pedagogy (pdf version)


Interested in hearing from the authors of the The Anti-Racist Discussion Pedagogy?  In this 2020 webinar, Dr. Selfa Chew, Dr. Akil Houston, and Dr. Alisa Cooper share actionable steps for breaking down race-based power structures in the classroom from their guide. This webinar is provided as additional, non-required information. Viewing this webinar recording is optional.


Citation: Packback Webinars. (2020, Aug 26) Adopting an Anti-Racist Pedagogy: A Guide to Building an Anti-Racist Pedagogy in any Discipline. (1:05:01) URL: https://youtu.be/LfVsjYiRYOg

Course Description

Principles and methods of nutritional epidemiology. Analysis and interpretation of local, national, and global food and nutrition survey tools and data. Critical investigation of the population-level contribution of food and nutrition to racial and ethnic inequities in health and diet-related disease.

What will you learn along the way in this course?

Course Objectives

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

  1. Describe common epidemiological dietary assessment methods and survey designs.
  2. Explain how nutritional epidemiology contributes to the population assessment, policy and intervention design, and monitoring of the population level impact of food environments, nutrition interventions and policy.
  3. Demonstrate knowledge of how structural and systemic inequities in access to healthy food and health promotion activities contribute to diet related health outcomes.
  4. Conduct epidemiological analysis of one or more New York City or US-based epidemiological surveys with nutrition components.
  5. Explain the relationships between population-level nutrition patterns and health outcomes.

How will you know you’re learning in this course?

Learning Outcomes

(if your course does not specifically address one or more of these please indicate)

By the end of this course students will be able to:

  1. Apply scientific knowledge to assess critically health data/information and indicators of health status at individual, societal, and structural levels.
  2. Demonstrate analytical and communication skills for diverse audiences.
  3. Demonstrate knowledge of scientific research and evidence-based practice for use in the field.
  4. Demonstrate the importance of professional behavior, ethics and human rights.

What are we going to examine?

We Will Examine How Racist Norms Around Body Size Impact Nutrition Epidemiology Research and Results

Fig 2 showing body silhouette

Image citation:

Okop, K.J., Mukumbang, F.C., Mathole, T. et al. Perceptions of body size, obesity threat and the willingness to lose weight among black South African adults: a qualitative study. BMC Public Health 16, 365 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-016-3028-7

Fig 1 stunkard silhouettes of men and women.

The body silhouettes method, designed and validated by Stunkard, Sørensen, & Schulsinger (1983), was used; it shows nine body silhouette figures, of both men and women, from very thin to very obese.

Article/Image Citation:

López Sánchez, G. F., Díaz Suárez, A., & Smith, L. (2017). Analysis of body image and obesity by Stunkard's silhouettes in 3- to 18-year-old Anales de Psicología / Annals of Psychology, 34(1), 167–172. Journal Article URL: https://doi.org/10.6018/analesps.34.1.294781 English PDF URL: https://revistas.um.es/analesps/article/view/analesps.34.1.294781/220491 Spanish PDF URL: https://revistas.um.es/analesps/article/view/analesps.34.1.294781/221851

We Will Examine Intentional Structural Origins of Access (Supermarkets, Farmers Markets, Education, Transportation, Green Space, Hospitals, Doctors per Capita, etc. etc.)

Brooklyn 1938 home owners map.

Image Credit:

National Archives and Records Administration, Mapping Inequality.

Article Citation:

Badger, E. (2017, August 24). How Redlining’s Racist Effects Lasted for Decades. The New York Times. URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/24/upshot/how-redlinings-racist-effects-lasted-for-decades.html

Fresh map with legend.

Image Credit:

NYCEDC (n.d) FRESH Supermarkets & Zoning Boundaries. URL: https://edc.nyc/fresh-supermarkets-zoning-boundaries