The Nutrition and Health minor provides a broad overview of nutrition through an introductory course and three advanced electives. It is available to all Cornell undergraduates except undergraduates in DNS, i.e. NS, HBHS, or GPHS majors as well as Biological Sciences majors in the Human Nutrition concentration.

The minor requires completion of introductory nutrition plus nine additional credits from a closed list of NS courses. Students may choose from courses covering the topics of human health and nutrition, economic influences on human nutrition, epidemiology and public health, food quality and food service management, nutritional biochemistry, and the psychological and social influences on human nutrition. 

For advising questions about the Nutrition and Health minor, contact dnsstudentservices@cornell.edu.

Requirements for the minor

The Nutrition and Health minor requires 12 total NS credits, including of one introductory nutrition course (NS 1150 Nutrition, Health, and Society OR NS 1220 Nutrition and the Life Cycle)* AND 9+ credits of nutrition electives chosen from the list below. Important notes:

  1. All courses must be completed for a letter grade (not S/U grading).
  2. Only external transfer students may petition to substitute a transfer course for the introductory nutrition requirement
  3. No transfer courses or special studies credits (i.e. NS 4000, 4010, 4020, 4030, or 4990) may be used toward the 9-credit elective requirement
  4. Some NS courses do not count toward the Nutrition and Health minor, including NS 2600. Please carefully review the requirements below. Questions may be directed to DNS Student Services at dnsstudentservices@cornell.edu.

For students matriculating in Fall 2021 or later, introductory nutrition content may be completed via either NS 1150 or NS 1220 and NS 1220 may not be used to fulfill the elective credit requirement. Students who matriculated during or before Spring 2021 may still use NS 1220 as an elective option.  

Global Perspectives on Human Health

  • NS 3060 Nutrition and Global Health (3 cr)
  • NS 4450 Toward a Sustainable Global Food System: Food Policy for Developing Countries (3 cr)
  • NS 4480 / AEM 4485 Economics of Food and Malnutrition (3 cr)
  • NS 4570 / ECON 4740 Health, Poverty, and Inequality: A Global Perspective (3 cr)

Public Health and Nutrition

  • NS 4500 Public Health Nutrition (3 cr)
  • NS 3600 Epidemiology (3 cr)

Food Quality and Food Service Management

  • NS 2470 Food for Contemporary Living (2 cr)
  • NS 3450 / FDSC 2000 Introduction to Physicochemical and Biological Aspects of Foods (3 cr)

Human Health and Nutrition

  • NS 3030 Nutrition, Health and Vegetarian Diets (3 cr)
  • NS 3150 / PSYCH 3150 Obesity and the Regulation of Body Weight (3 cr)
  • NS 3410 Human Anatomy and Physiology (Lecture) (4 cr)
  • NS 4200 Diet and the Microbiome (3 cr)
  • NS 4410 Nutrition and Disease (4 cr)
  • NS 4420 Implementation of Nutrition Care (3 cr; enrollment restricted – priority to Dietetics students)
  • NS 6140 Topics in Maternal and Child Nutrition (3 cr)

Nutritional Biochemistry

  • NS 3200 Introduction to Human Biochemistry (4 cr)
  • NS 3310 Human Nutrition and Nutrient Metabolism  4 cr)
  • NS 3320 Methods in Nutritional Sciences (3 cr; enrollment restricted – priority to NS majors and Dietetics students)
  • NS 4300 Proteins, Transcripts, and Metabolism: Big Data in Molecular Nutrition (3 cr)

Psychological and Social Influences on Human Nutrition

  • NS 2450 Social Science Perspectives on Food and Nutrition (3 cr)
  • NS 4250 Nutrition Communications and Counseling (3 cr; enrollment restricted – priority to Dietetics students)
Registration and Completion of the Nutrition and Health Minor

Nutrition and Health Minor Intent Form: Please submit this form once you decide to complete Nutrition and Health minor.

Nutrition and Health Minor Verification Form: Please complete this form as soon as you complete all requirements of the Nutrition & Health minor, or at the beginning of your final undergraduate semester at Cornell, whichever comes first.

Students are responsible for planning their minor program of study with their faculty advisor and/or staff advisor(s).

Registration: Students should indicate their intent to minor in Nutrition and Health by completing the Nutrition and Health Intent Form. If at any time you decide not to complete the requirements, please be sure to notify the DNS Student Services office at dnsstudentservices@cornell.edu.

Completion: Upon completion of all minor requirements (or during the last semester of a student’s studies, whichever comes first), minors should complete the Nutrition and Health Verification Form. 

DNS reports minors to College Registrars once they are complete, including all relevant forms. This typically happens twice per year, as grades come in at the end of the Fall and Spring semesters. The College Registrar then adds the Minor to your transcript when the degree is conferred (but it will not appear on the diploma). If there are any problems regarding completion, we will contact you. If you do not see the minor on your transcript after your degree is conferred, please contact your College Registrar’s Office to inquire.

Contact dnsstudentservices@cornell.edu