Nutritional Sciences

In the Nutritional Sciences major, you’ll explore content in basic and applied human nutrition, which ranges from broad topics in community nutrition right down to the finest details of how our bodies actually metabolize and utilize nutrients. Here, you’ll experience rich opportunities to integrate nutrition with your interests in other areas within health and science, and you’ll be primed to carry your education further at the masters and PhD level. All Nutritional Sciences students take the same core of courses, but you can focus your electives to delve deeper into a particular area of interest such as basic nutritional sciences, population and public health nutrition, and international nutrition.

In Nutritional Sciences, you will take a combination of degree requirements (required of all students) and restricted electives (courses selected from a curated list of approved electives). You’ll also be able to take a limited number of unrestricted electives (courses you get to pick yourself).

As a Nutritional Sciences student, you will need a strong background in the sciences, so you’ll start with chemistry, math and biology. As you progress through the program, you’ll also be able to take focused, nutrition-specific courses such as:

• FNH 200: Exploring our Food
• FNH 370: Nutrition Assessment
• FNH 350: Fundamentals of Nutrition
• FNH 342: Consumer Aspects of Food
• FNH 371: Human Nutrition Over the Life Span
• FNH 451: Nutrient Metabolism and Implications for Health
• FNH 472: Maternal and Fetal Nutrition
• FNH 477: Nutrition and Disease Prevention

To see the complete list of required courses for this program, please consult the UBC Academic Calendar. Current students, please use the ‘Degree Navigator’ tool in your Student Service Centre (SSC) to track your progress.

Minors

You may opt to supplement your Nutritional Sciences major with a minor program, which involves taking courses in a subject area outside of your specialization. Food, Nutrition and Health students are eligible to apply for a Minor in Arts, Commerce, Science, Fermentations, Sustainable Food Systems, or Kinesiology. Learn more about minors, including application timelines, here.

Dual Degree with Master of Management

Consider amplifying your Nutritional Sciences degree with a foundation in business by applying for the Bachelor of Science (Food, Nutrition and Health) – Master of Management dual degree. Note that admission to this program is primarily available to students coming directly out of high school. Depending on enrolment, the UBC Sauder School of Business may release a limited number of spaces on a competitive basis to students who are going into their third year at UBC (or those who are transferring to UBC for their third year). Learn more about this dual-degree program option and the application process in the Faculty of Commerce and Business Administration section of the UBC Academic Calendar.

If you are a current Food, Nutrition and Health student who’s interested in the Nutritional Sciences major, you will be prompted to select your specialization through your Student Service Centre (SSC) when registering for second year. This major is not competitive.

If you are a high school, college or university student and you want to major in Nutritional Sciences at UBC, you should apply for the Bachelor of Science in Food, Nutrition and Health. Learn more here.