Nutritional Management

Health is defined as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being. Everyone desires to live a one-time life with a healthy mind and body. Nutritional science allows us to make this notion a reality. In this department, students integrally study findings on nutritional science and acquire the knowledge and skills to become a specialist with the national qualification of "registered dietitian."

Our Philosophy/Policy

Education and Research Purpose

The Department of Health and Nutrition aims to train students, based on the Christian doctrine of love that is our education philosophy, to acquire the ability to explore what constitutes human health and nutrition from a broad perspective and understand it scientifically and logically and the ability to put it into practice and also to cultivate "food" experts having both rich humanity and advanced expertise who can contribute to society.

Message from Department Chairman

Aiming to become a registered dietitian who can think and take action on their own

Japan is becoming the world’s most rapidly aging society at an unprecedented rate. In such an aging society, one of the challenges we face is to extend the healthy life expectancy and reduce medical costs. In order to survive in such social circumstances, a registered dietitian needs to be able to understand information in scientific papers, have insight into the truth of media information and appropriately provide accurate data. In other words, it becomes important for a registered dietitian to possess logical and critical thinking. Viewed from the opposite side, by receiving accurate information and providing it to target people as specialists in nutritional science, registered dietitians may be able to transform a part of Japanese society through “nutrition” and “food.”

In addition, students who acquire a liberal arts education may be able to change the world through “nutrition” and “food” that benefits a wide range of people of all ages and both sexes, even those in utero, by addressing the challenge previously described for the aged, preventing diseases or pre-symptomatic diseases for the middle-aged and elderly, imparting the importance of food to children in line with the proverb, “the child is father of the man,” and providing information based on the DOHaD study to pregnant and nursing women.

To that end, the Department of Health and Nutrition provides students with classes mainly in the fields related to human health such as clinical nutritional science (relationship between diseases and nutrition), nutrition education (causes of behavioral changes related to “food” in humans) and public nutrition (nutritional science useful in local communities) and also in the technical fields such as culinary arts and meal service business administration.

Finally, I sincerely hope that students will acquire the abilities to think and take action on their own in our university and create space in the male-dominated Japanese society using the qualification of registered dietitian as a weapon. This exemplifies why learning at a women's university is of great significance.

学科長　大久保　剛

Points of learning

  1. Students explore what constitutes human health and nutrition from a broad perspective.

    Students learn the relationship between appropriate balance, food environment, diseases, etc., acquire correct information and skills and develop a spirit of inquiry.

  2. Students acquire the ability to understand concepts scientifically and logically and utilize such knowledge and judgement in practice.

    We foster human resources who can understand individual food environments and implement nutritional management or guidance based on scientific evidence in modern society where eating habits are diversified.

  3. We foster experts in “food” who have humanity to contribute to society.

    We foster registered dietitians who will lead a society in which people can live in good health, both mentally and physically, have both rich humanity and advanced expertise and play active roles in various fields.

Introduction of Courses

Nutritional Management

Students can obtain the qualification of dietitian upon graduation. In addition, this university has been designated as a registered dietitian training facility and students are automatically qualified to take the national examination for registered dietitian upon graduation. In modern society where with the declining birthrate and aging population, people wish to live a long healthy life, human resources are required that provide appropriate dietary education that suits each human life stage from infancy to old age and provide people with guidance on proper dietary habits. Social needs for registered dietitians at medical institutions, social welfare institutions, schools, administrative bodies, etc. have become diversified year by year.

Qualifications that can be obtained
  • - Dietitian
  • - Qualification for taking the national examination for registered dietitian
  • - Nutrition Educator License Class 1
  • - Qualification for taking the examination for Food Specialist
  • - Food Sanitation Supervisor (qualification for appointment)
  • - Food Sanitation Inspector (qualification for appointment)
  • - Social Welfare Officer (qualification for appointment)
  • - Senior Information Processing Engineer
  • - Information Processing Engineer
  • - Japanese Language Teacher (Certificate of Completion of Japanese Language Teaching Course)

Policy for admission of new students

(1)Students sought by the Department of Health and Nutrition
  1. We seek students who understand the purpose and goals of our education facility and have a high interest in and a desire to learn about health, food, nutrition, lifestyle-related diseases and dietary education.
  2. We seek students who are committed to contributing to communities in the fields of medical care, welfare, provision of meals, administration and education where a high level of expertise is required and spare no effort to realize it.
(2)High school study requirements (learning goals in high school)
  1. Students should have acquired, in high school, a fundamental knowledge of "biology" or "chemistry" which becomes the basis for understanding the mechanism of the human body, sciences of food and nutrition, etc.
  2. Students should maintain an interest in the fields of activity of registered dietitians in society and the contents of works so that they can specifically envisage them.

Policy on organizing and implementing curricula

In order to achieve the Diploma Policy of the Department of Health and Nutrition, we have organized curricula with specialized subjects, through the understanding and support of people, which are focused on health and nutrition based on the following guideline.

  1. The main subjects in the first-year curriculum of the department are “Health and Nutrition Basic Exercise” for enhancing the basic skills necessary to learn specialized subjects and “Health and Nutrition Theory” for learning the history of the progress of nutritional science and dietitians, global-scale nutrition issues, lifestyle-related diseases and the sanctity of life and bioethics, as well as understanding the sense of mission as registered dietitians.
  2. The specialized subjects are categorized by field such as “Basic Specialized Field,” “Specialized Field” and “Others,” and in the subjects of the “Basic Specialized Field” and “Specialized Field,” training for registered dietitians is intensively provided. In the “Basic Specialized Field,” we offer subjects on the relationship between society or the environment and health, the structure and functions of the human body, origins of diseases and food and health. In the “Specialized Field,” we offer subjects on basic nutritional science, applied nutritional science, nutrition education theory, clinical nutritional science, public nutritional science and meal service business administration theory. As advanced subjects in the “Specialized Field,” practical training and comprehensive exercises are offered.
  3. For the specialized subjects in “Others,” we provide a curricula organized to allow students to acquire the knowledge and skills related to health and nutrition as food specialists. Specifically, the subjects necessary to acquire the qualifications of food specialist, food sanitation supervisor and food sanitation inspector are included. In addition, we offer subjects necessary to obtain a teaching qualification so that students can obtain Nutrition Educator License Class 1.
  4. By taking many subjects in the “Basic Specialized Field” and “Specialized Field” in the first and second years, students acquire the basic knowledge necessary to become a professional dietician. In the third and fourth years, through practical training and comprehensive exercises which are the advanced subjects (with cross-sectional learning contents) in the “Specialized Field,” students acquire the ethics, knowledge and skills of registered dietitians and cultivate awareness and practical skills as registered dietitians.
  5. In order to develop problem-solving skills and research abilities on issues in the specialized field, we offer the health and nutrition study (seminar) which gives instruction to a small group and senior project. We also offer subjects on sports nutrition to students who are interested in becoming registered dietitians in the sports field.

Policy on Graduation Approval and Degree Conferment

  1. Students shall have acquired basic specialized knowledge about human health and nutrition and origins of diseases.
  2. Students shall be able to grasp human eating behaviors and food environments and have acquired the basics of practical methods for providing support and taking measures on health and nutrition issues according to evidence-based criteria.
  3. Students shall have acquired a fundamental grounding in contributing to society with humanism and a sense of ethics and building a trusting relationship with people (or a good human relationship).
  4. Students shall be able to have awareness as registered dietitians having their own specialties from among various kinds of specialized fields related to health and food.