Introduction

Welcome to the first week of the course!

Over the next eight weeks, you will learn about the components of food and how your digestive system uses them inside your body. You will also look at food labels and how to interpret the information on them. The course ends with a closer look at balanced diets and nutrition globally.

In the following video, Audrey Brown of The Open University finds out how some of the members of staff at the University choose when to have lunch.

After this week’s study, you should be able to understand:

• why we eat and the factors that affect hunger
• the different macronutrients and their function in the human body
• the different micronutrients and their function in the human body.

Before you start, The Open University would really appreciate a few minutes of your time to tell us about yourself and your expectations of the course. Your input will help to further improve the online learning experience. If you’d like to help, and if you haven’t done so already, please fill in this optional survey.