Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), comprising mainly of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), cancers and diabetes, are the leading causes of death globally. To a large extent, NCDs are caused by lifestyle factors including unhealthy dietary intake, lack of physical activity and sedentary behaviours. Appropriate measures and methods are required to study relations of such lifestyle behaviours and NCDs. This includes the use of valid tools and methods to measure dietary intake and physical activity, and suitable study designs and analytical techniques to analyse the data.

The primary aim of the course is to translate up-to-date knowledge and skills on the measurement and epidemiology of dietary behaviours, physical activity and sedentary behaviours. This includes definitions, tools and methods to assess and handle data, conceptual frameworks and epidemiology of these lifestyle behaviours in relation to type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Methods to assess dietary intake include questionnaires, biomarkers and digital food records and those for physical activity and sedentary behaviour include self-reported methods and objective measurement techniques. The relations between individual-level and environmental level determinants of lifestyle behaviours and health outcomes, such as CVD, obesity and diabetes will be discussed.

The course comprises of lectures, debate sessions and practicals. Lecturers will introduce the topics and provide the state of current knowledge. In practical afternoon sessions, students will work in small groups in a variety of forms, including group work, discussions and data interpretation and calculation.

The following topics will be covered:

The course is meant for researchers working in academia, governmental institutions or industry who want to learn how the lifestyle factors ‘physical activity, sedentary behavior, sleep and dietary intake’ influence non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, cancers and type II diabetes. The course will not focus on other lifestyle factors such as tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption, substance abuse, among others.

Attendants are expected to have at least basic knowledge of epidemiological and statistical methods (i.e., study designs and analysis techniques).

The course materials (lectures, assignments, feedback of the assignments etc) are available on Canvas, our digital learning environment. The documents will remain available on Canvas for at least one year.

In order to do the computer practicals, you will need SPSS. If you do not have SPSS installed yet, you can purchase it through Surfspot at a very reasonable price. Another option is to use IBM’s trial version: SPSS Software | IBM.

The final assessment is facultative and will consist of a written exam. The costs are euro 160, – per examination or re-examination.

You can register for the exam on the Exams page. Registration will close 3 weeks prior to the exam.

Please note that you need to pass the exam in order to receive credits (EC).

A certificate of participation will be granted to all students who have attended at least 80% of the classes. The number of contact hours will be stated on the certificate.

Only for Dutch medical specialists!

On the final day of the course, you need to sign the attendance list if you wish to obtain KNMG accreditation credits (PE-points).

To qualify for these credits, there is an attendance requirement of 100%.