Analysis of nutrition (and food) education syllabus of nutrition undergraduate courses

Objective: To analyze the Nutrition Education discipline syllabus in Nutrition undergraduate courses in Brazil. Methods: This is a qualitative, exploratory, descriptive cross-sectional study, carried out in the form of survey. A letter of invitation was sent to higher education institutions that had at least one class that graduated by the end of the first semester of 2010 and provided the Nutrition education discipline syllabus. The software Analyse Lexicale par Contexte d'un Ensemble de Segments de Texte (Image, Toulouse, Franca) version 4.7 was used in the textual data analysis of the syllabuses, and the social representation theory was adopted as the theoretical model. Results: Data were obtained from 46 participant higher education institutions (11.7%), of which 18 were public institutions. Lexical analysis revealed the formation of two independent axes, which were composed respectively of words from the reference list of relevant books and articles included in the discipline syllabus and words related to the discipline program, indicating a lack of association between "reference list" and "text". As for the syllabus content, it was observed that the educational process should be composed of analysis, planning, and implementation, but these three steps (defined by classes) do not seem to be related or connected to each other, demonstrating a nutrition (and food) education teaching gap. Conclusion: This analysis revealed the need to restructure the nutrition education syllabuses to promote greater integration between theory and practice. However, in order to ensure higher qualification and competence of future professionals, it is suggested deeper consideration including the political-pedagogical projects of nutrition undergraduate programs and the Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais (National Curriculum Guidelines).