Explore Nutrition and Exercise as Medicine
Improve statistics. Change lives. Think differently.
This is a unique course focused on using exercise as a form of medicine to treat lifestyle-based health conditions. You will gain the skills and competencies associated with all aspects of exercise prescription and dietary intervention through a combination of theoretical and practical applications.
Those who are active and eat well have a decreased chance of developing lifestyle disorders and enjoy an enhanced physical, social and mental health status. Moreover, those who are suffering with disease, disorders, physical restrictions or impairments can benefit greatly from a change in behaviour, which sees them incorporating new approaches within their lifestyle. However, being able to recognise the importance of a healthy lifestyle right through to making positive and consistent behaviour change, requires specialised knowledge and skills.
To ensure success, the practitioner must have an in-depth understanding of underpinning scientific principles yet also be skilled in advocating and incorporating change into a person’s daily schedule. For this reason, the art and science of exercise prescription and dietary intervention is tremendously complex and takes years to learn and hone. You will learn the skills and competencies associated with all aspects of exercise prescription and dietary intervention through a combination of theoretical and practical applications.
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What is Nutrition and Exercise as Medicine about?
Improve statistics
Current statistics around obesity, diabetes, inactivity and poor dietary intakes are alarming, showing 29% of UK adults classified as obese and 20% and 14% of year 6 primary school children classified as obese and overweight respectively. In addition, 47 million adults in the UK are suffering with type II diabetes mellitus which emphasises the opportunity and demand for lifestyle-based interventions to facilitate change in morbidity and premature mortality rates.
Change lives
Those who are active and eat well have a decreased chance of developing lifestyle disorders and enjoy an enhanced physical, social and mental health status. Moreover, those who are suffering with disease, disorders, physical restrictions or impairments can benefit greatly from a change in behaviour, which sees them incorporating new approaches within their lifestyle. However, being able to recognise the importance of a healthy lifestyle right through to making positive and consistent behaviour change, requires specialised knowledge and skills.
Think differently
To ensure success, the practitioner must have an in-depth understanding of underpinning scientific principles yet also be skilled in advocating and incorporating change into a person’s daily schedule. For this reason, the art and science of exercise prescription and dietary intervention is tremendously complex and takes years to learn and hone. This course will provide you with the skills and competencies associated with all aspects of exercise prescription and dietary intervention through a combination of theoretical and practical applications.
Why is this course currently so relevant?
The impact of COVID-19 has been nothing short of devastating, with over 375,000 hospitalisations and 100,000 deaths within the United Kingdom alone. Obesity and obesity-related conditions have consistently been demonstrated as a leading risk-factor for covid-19 severity and mortality. Those who are overweight are three to four times more likely to develop severe covid and it has also been demonstrated that who are obese are at 12 times more risk of Covid-19 mortality than those of normal weight. Moreover, obesity-related conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular, and respiratory disease has been shown to increase the risk of severe covid and covid mortality by 3.6, 2.7, 5.2 & 5.1 times respectively.
The pandemic and associated lockdowns have clearly impacted both metabolic and mental health among the general population. This coupled with the potential implications of “long covid”, means that the population-wide adoption of regular physical activity and well-balanced and nutritious diets has never been more important. These behaviours have not only consistently been shown to prevent or reduce risk factors associated with covid severity/ mortality (such as obesity and obesity-related disease), but also crucial for metabolic health and psychological wellbeing. Therefore, the development of competent practitioners in nutrition and exercise has never been more imperative.
When does this course start?
The next start date for this course is September 2022,
How long does the course take?
This is a standard three-year degree if you study full-time. A part-time option is available which will take five years.
Where is the University of Salford?
Studying at Salford really is the best of both worlds. Our Peel Park campus is set in 46 square kilometers of lush, green space to enjoy. But we're also just over a mile away from the big city buzz of central Manchester - voted the UK's most liveable city for two years running.
Famous for music, culture, sport, art and science, the cities of Manchester and Salford offer an unrivalled student experience where you can balance your studies with world-class culture, exciting events and legendary nightlife.
If you're commuting, we have a train station that has direct links to and from Manchester Airport, Manchester Piccadilly and Victoria, as well as Blackpool, Bolton, Buxton, Blackburn, Southport, Preston, Lancaster, and Barrow-in-Furness. If you're looking to stay on campus, we're very proud to say that our Peel Park Quarter accommodation was recently voted the 2nd best student accommodation in the country by Student Hut.
What are the entry requirements?
You must have GCSE Maths and English at grade C/grade 4 or above. You must also have A-Levels, BTEC or other equivalent qualifications that equate to 112 - 120 UCAS points. A science subject is preferred (including psychology, sociology, sport, PE).
Fees
For full-time home students, the fee is £9,250. You can find out more information about paying for your degree with a student loan here.
Find out more
For full course details, please see here.
What Can We Offer You?
In the most recent National Student Survey (NSS) 100% of students said they were satisfied with the amount of advice and guidance they received, as well as the opportunities they had to explore ideas or concepts in depth (UoS analysis of data 2022)
You will benefit from our strong links with industry through placements, guest speakers, field trips, teaching in applied settings and other course engagement activities.
You will undertake additional vocational awards as part of your studies, in order to gain relevant industry experience in ‘Gym Instructing’ and ‘Personal Training’.
Rebecca Murray
Rebecca Murray is an BSc (Hons) Nutrition and Exercise as Medicine (NEM) student. She described a typical day in her life as a student at the University of Salford:
A typical day would be getting up at around half past six. I get up, get the dog, go for a three mile run with the dog, come back home, get the children ready, take the children to school. Then I have a 45 minute commute from Bury to Salford.
Then it’s straight into lectures, typically for about an hour and a half. I find on EPAH courses that we have a really interactive, fun kind of lecture. The morning session is classroom based. We learn the background and the basics, which then is broken down into group sessions. There’s lots of participation through the lessons and our lecturers encourage us to ask questions.
Then we have a tutorial where we go through what the lecture was about in more detail. We study in the Mary Seacole and Allerton buildings and there’s probably about 30 participants at a time. Then we break for lunch.
For lunch we normally all end up in the Allerton café, which is really nice with the healthy noodle bar and there’s salads and soups, so I don’t need to bring lunch with me.
Afternoon lectures tend to be in the Physiology lab where we put into practice what we’ve learned in the morning sessions. It’s a case of bringing your gym kit and getting involved and stuck in. One of us does the testing while the other one does the running. We take blood samples to test how long lactate accumulates in the blood for after exercise. We collect data to use in our assignments.
I use the Learning Space in Allerton for extra study. There’s the quiet learning zone where I can take my laptop and get some work done. Sometimes though I find it’s better to do it from home because I’ve got the school run.
At the end of the day, it’s a bit of a mad rush! Straight to the car, back over to Bury to pick the kids up, after school activities for the children, get home, make tea then it’s time to sit down and start doing my research.
Tell us about your lecturers.
The lecturers on the NEM course are all from industry so their connections are absolutely fantastic. They work with a lot of boxers, Scott Quigg has visited us, and we work closely with Rick Moylan who is also a strength and conditioning coach running his own business. So we get to see real life people and how the industry has worked for them. I can’t speak highly enough of them.
Why did you choose to study NEM at Salford?
I used to be a Financial Advisor and I’d been in finance all my life. When I was pregnant with my second child I took voluntary redundancy. Then it was a case of “I don’t want to go back into that industry”. I’ve always had a keen interest in health and exercise so I started to research courses. I stumbled on Salford and once I’d read the information I knew that it was the course for me.
My main reason for coming back to uni was my interest in the childhood obesity epidemic. Ideally what I want to do is work in the promotional side of public health and physical activity and see how that is aligned to writing policies and commissioning new services for our children. I just want to be in a position where I can influence the future of our country.
Campus Life. Big City Buzz.
Study at Salford really is the best of both worlds. Our Peel Park campus is set in 46 square kilometres of lush, green space to enjoy. But we're also just over a mile away from the big city buzz of central Manchester - voted the UK's most liveable city two years running.
Famous for music, culture, sport, art and science, the cities of Manchester and Salford offers an unrivalled student experience where you can balance your studies with world-class culture, exciting events and legendary nightlife.
Campus Life
We know university life isn’t all about studying – sometimes you have to have fun, too – and there are plenty of things to do outside of academia across our campuses.
From joining a club or society, to taking part in a gym class, to meeting up with friends for lunch in Atmosphere bar and café: when you're not working on your next assignment or research project, you can be enjoying the perks of being on campus at the University of Salford.
Campus Accommodation
Living in student accommodation is a great way to get settled into university life and meet new people. We've got some great accommodation options to choose from, including Peel Park Quarter - recently voted one of the best halls of residence in the UK.
Becoming an undergraduate student
Choosing a university is one of the biggest decisions you'll make - and we want to help you make the right one.