What you will learn
What is involved
What you need to know
What you can do next

Nutrition Psychology: Food Choice and Eating Habits

Course Overview

This is a Distance Education Course presented by Well College Global – formerly Cadence Health

This Nutrition Psychology course is what everyone’s talking about and can’t get enough of! ‘

Why is it that some foods have more appeal to us than others? Why are some foods harder to say ‘no’ to? And why is it so hard to change our eating habits? We delve into the science and the psychology behind our eating habits to help make sense of why some habits die hard, and just how they came about in the first place.

Understanding why we eat what we eat is essential knowledge to anyone who works in the area of health and nutrition. Also ideal for those working in the nutrition, fitness or weight-loss industries.

Creating eating plans for others will be most effectively done if you hold a thorough understanding of food psychology. Why not get started now? This subject is an elective in the certificate of nutrition & health coaching program… let’s change lives!

This course is self paced – learn in your own time and schedule.

Macquarie Community College operates from a range of venues across Northern and Western Sydney. We have campuses in Blacktown, Carlingford, Chatswood, Epping, Mt Druitt, Richmond, and Ryde. Enrol now!

Learn more about this course

What you will learn

Course outline

  • Introduction to the course
  • Introduction to food psychology
  • Theoretical models of food choice
  • Why are models important?
  • The furst model of food choice
  • The influence of factors such as life course, influences, personal systems, value negotiations, strategies
  • Models in health
  • Commonly used models in health initiatives
  • Theory of planned behaviour (TPB)
  • Health belief model (HBM)
  • Other models
  • Public health strategies
  • Understanding the consumer
  • Market segments
  • The effect of values on consumer behaviour
  • Internal factors of taste and food regulation
  • Development of taste preferences
  • Taste physiology
  • Taste sensitivity
  • Changes with age
  • Development of sweet taste
  • Food intake regulation
  • Nutrient effects on intake and behaviour
  • Sensory-specific satiety (SSS)
  • Food choices and preferences
  • Liking and wanting are different
  • When do taste preferences start?
  • Preference for salty foods
  • Development of the preference for fatty foods
  • The influence of ‘good-tasting food’
  • Learning and its effect on food choice
  • How learning happens
  • Flavour-consequence learning
  • The post-ingestive effects of food
  • Unlearning habits
  • Influence on eating habits
  • Eating as an automatic behaviour
  • Inhibition of the desire to overeat
  • The effect of effort on food intake
  • The effect of repetition of food and variety
  • Media, marketing and labelling
  • Does marketing matter?
  • The importance of branding to product success
  • The effect of advertising on eating
  • Special topic: children and food advertising on television
  • How much advertising are kids exposed to?
  • Update on the number of junk food adverts during children’s TV
  • Food labelling and its impact on consumption
  • Food labels: do they have an effect?
  • Packaging messages
  • Health claims
  • The example of sodium
  • Logos and endorsements on food products
  • Eating, personality and motivational states
  • Emotional influences on food choice
  • Impulse, inhibition, eating restraint and intake
  • The influence of stress and coping
  • Decision-making styles
  • The example of health campaigns
  • Personal factors in weight control
  • The big 5: personality and weight
  • Why weight loss efforts falling short
  • Motivation and weight control
  • The relevance of locus of control (LOC)
  • Emotional response to experiences by locus of control
  • How to develop an internal locus of control
  • Making changes

Course outcome

All students receive a Certificate of Attainment with relevant accreditation logos:

  • Fitness Australia 15 CECs – You must be registered Personal Trainer in order to attain these CECs (the CECs will be amend to 14 CECs as of 1 October 2015)
  • Physical Activity Australia: Approximate conversion of 9-15 CECs to PDPs = 3 PDPs
  • 16 CPE points from ATMS
  • CPE points from ANTA
  • May be eligible for PME points (AAMT)
  • NHAA may be applicable upon request to your registering body

What you need to know

Entry requirements

This level is for the complete beginner and assumes no prior knowledge.

Coming soon

There are currently no classes scheduled for this course.

Please check back later as classes are added regularly or get in touch for more information.

Contact us

Delivery Mode

To meet the needs of our students Macquarie Community College balances delivery and engagement across permanent, regular and temporary delivery sites and offer face-to-face, remote zoom classes and self-paced learning options.

Ways to Study

  • On campus

Our college campus locations are:

    • Blacktown
    • Chatswood
    • Carlingford
    • Epping
    • Ryde
    • Mt Druitt
  • Virtual classroom
  • Complete workplace training
  • Combine ways to study

FAQ

How you got questions? Please see our comprehensive FAQ page for everything you need to know about Macquarie Community College, our policies, student support, application and enrolment procedures.

How to Enrol

Step 1 - Choose Your Course

  • Select the non-accredited short course you are interested in.
  • Find a day and time that suits your schedule.

Note: Enrolment is open to anyone 18 years or older.

Step 2 - Enrol and Verify

  • Click ‘Enrol Now’ after selecting your course and schedule.
  • Enter your details on the enrolment page.
  • Verify your email through a secure link sent to your email address.
  • Complete the secure checkout and payment process.

Ensure you read the Terms and Conditions available at: Macquarie Community College Terms and Conditions. For assistance, call customer service at 1300 845 888.

Step 3 - Receive Your Enrolment Details

  • You will receive an immediate enrolment confirmation email upon successful enrolment. Check and read the attached Terms and Conditions.
  • The payer of the enrolment will receive a tax invoice immediately after processing.
  • You will receive a course reminder email a day before your class begins.
  • For Online Zoom classes, a Zoom link and password will be emailed the day before class. Use the same link and password for subsequent sessions if applicable.