Nutritional Sciences | Penn State College of Health and Human Development

Lessons on nutrition easy to digest in virtual reality spaces

Research completed in the Health, Ingestive Behavior and Technology Laboratory found that virtual reality may provide nutritional sciences experts with an entirely new way to serve real lessons on healthy eating.

HHD Discovery: Evaluating newborn health with A.I.

Penn State faculty developed and patented artificial intelligence software to evaluate a maternal and newborn health with only a photograph, and they are working to improve and disseminate their innovation.

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INSIGHT study suggests ways to help newborns sleep longer

Center for Childhood Obesity Research’s INSIGHT study has been demonstrating the benefits of Responsive Parenting training for a decade. New research in The American Academy of Pediatrics shows that the benefits spillover to second-born children.

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Nutritional Sciences at Penn State examines how humans gain energy from food and how nutrition choices affect our health over time.

Solidly rooted in chemistry, biology, physiology, psychology, neuroscience, behavior, and development, our body of work covers the effects of nutrition at all levels, from the molecule to the organism, to the population at large. Our programs aim to nurture a new generation of leaders in bench and behavioral sciences who will push the limits of our understanding of nutrition as it relates to human health.

Faculty and students in a test kitchen at Penn State

Start your undergraduate journey

Explore this undergraduate degree for students interested in how the human body transforms food into usable energy that fuels our daily lives.

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Student organizing plant starts at the Penn State student farm.

Learn about graduate training

Discover how research and graduate training provides students with the knowledge needed to contribute to the field of nutritional sciences.

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Explore research areas

Understand the variety of research areas and current projects that push the boundaries of knowledge in the field.

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The Diet Assessment Center

Explore how the department collects and analyzes dietary data to help researchers understand what, how, and when people are eating.

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Faculty Spotlight

Travis Masterson named Broadhurst Career Development Professor

“Receiving the professorship is a recognition of the significant public health contribution that this research can have for education, public health, and policy." Travis Masterson is an assistant professor in NUTR.