INTRODUCTION

NUTRITIONAL EPIDEMIOLOGY

Week-1
 Outline

1 DEFINITION OF EPIDEMIOLOGY

2 NUTRITIONAL EPIDEMIOLOGY

3 THE PURPOSE OF EPIDEMIOLOGY

4
DEFINITION OF EPIDEMIOLOGY

From Greek words

Epi : On/Upon
Demos : People
Logos : Statement/Science
“ A statement of what is upon people”
(Markelis, VC.1986)
 What is epidemiology?

“The study of the distribution and d

eterminants of health related states
and events in populations, and the
application of this study to control
health problems”

John M. Last, Dictionary of Epidemiology

 WHO definition:
Epidemiology is the study of the distribution and determi
-nants of health-related states or events (including dise-
ase), and the application of this study to the control of
diseases and other health problems.
Various methods can be used to carry out epidemiologi-
cal investigations: surveillance and descriptive studies
can be used to study distribution; analytical studies are
used to study determinants.
 NUTRITIONAL EPIDEMIOLOGY

“ Nutritional epidemiology includes all

studies of the relations between diet and health
in human populations”

• A branch of epidemiology (esp non-

communicable disease),
• Applied on nutrition field,
• Nutrients or nutritional status as
Exposure or Outcome.
 NUTRITIONAL EPIDEMIOLOGY

“The study of distribution, magnitude and

determinants of nutrition problem and
disease related nutrition problems, and its
application on food and nutrition policy and
programs for better health of population”
 So what is EPIDEMIOLOGY?

• Basic science:
• What causes disease?
• How does disease spread?
• What prevents disease?
• What works in controlling disease?
 What is that for?
1. Provide the scientific basis to prevent disease and promote health.
2. Determine relative importance to establish priorities for research & action.
3. Identify sections of the population at greatest risk to target interventions.
4. Evaluate effectiveness of programs in improving the health of the population.
5. Study natural history of disease from precursor states through clinical course
6. Conduct surveillance of disease occurrence in populations
7. Investigate disease outbreaks

– Milton Terris, The Society for Epidemiologic Research (SER) and the future of epid
emiology. Am J Epidemiol 1992; 136(8):909-915, p 912
 References:
1. Hennekens, C and Buring JE. 1987. Epidemiology in Medicine .
Little Brown Company. Boston.
2. Margetts, BM. And Nelson, M. 1991. Disain Concepts in Nutritional
Epidemiology.Oxford Univercity Press. Oxford.
3. Willet W. 1990. Nutritional Epidemiology. Oxford Univercity Press.Oxford.
4. Bonita R, Beagehole R, Kjellstrom T. 1996. Basic Epidemiology.
WHO-Geneva.
5. Sastroasmoro S, Ismael S. 2008. Dasar-dasar metodologi penelitian
klinis. CV Sagung Seto.
6. Murti, B. 2010. Desain dan Ukuran Sampel untuk Penelitian Kualitatif
dan Kuantitatif di Bidang Kesehatan. Gadjah Mada University Press.
Thank you