Student Yuka Yamazaki wins popular vote at infographics fair

The World Wide Web is replete with nutrition myths and misinformation. Fortunately, translation of nutritional science to evidence-based practice is a skill that Applied Human Nutrition students at the Mount hone before graduation. Noted Assistant Professor Dr. Kyly Whitfield, “Knowledge translation and transfer [or KTT] by nutrition professionals is essential to improve the health of Canadians.”

To help prepare the next generation of nutrition leaders for their role in KTT, Kyly recently challenged her Nutrition 2324 students (Nutrition Through the Lifecycle) to create an evidence-based infographic to disseminate a key nutrition recommendation regarding a specific life stage. The challenge was part of the students’ final course project.

On December 7th, the students presented their work at an infographics fair open to the Mount community – a chance to present their work and actively share their nutrition knowledge with attendees.

“The infographics from the class were extremely diverse,” said Kyly. “Topics covered included everything from the importance for adults over 50 to consume vitamin B12 supplements, to tips for parents of picky eaters, and recommendations for how much weight women should gain during pregnancy.”

In the end, one infographic claimed the title of favourite among attendees who were encouraged to cast ballots as they visited. Nutrition student Yuka Yamazaki (pictured at right) won the public popular vote for her infographic titled Breaking News for Women: Are you under-ironed?

“In my infographic, I presented how low iron stores, which is not always of concern before pregnancy, can have detrimental effects on pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes,” explained Yuka. “I wanted the infographic to be a sheet of exhaustive information so viewers would not have to do any additional research on the subject, but I also wanted it to be simple and catchy, which made it very difficult to choose which information to put on the infographic from numerous sources of evidence and data, and decide how to organize it on one sheet of paper.”

Yuka understands well the important role nutritional scientists and dietitians have to play in helping cut through the clutter of nutrition misinformation. “Although maintenance of good nutritional status is one of the most essential things to lead a healthy life, making the right food choices is difficult without an understanding of profound, complicated nutritional knowledge,” she said. “Infographics help nutritional professionals share their complex knowledge with viewers quickly and clearly and in an appealing way.”

Click the image below to view Yuka’s infographic: Breaking News for Women: Are you under-ironed?