SFA food, nutrition and dietetics program partners with kinesiology and health science to offer hands-on learning experience

NACOGDOCHES, Texas — Stephen F. Austin State University’s food, nutrition and dietetics program recently partnered with the Department of Kinesiology and Health Science to provide nutrition counseling students with a hands-on learning experience in the Human Performance Lab on the university’s campus.

Sarah Drake, clinical instructor, brought her class to the Human Performance Lab to provide nutrition counseling students with a more in-depth look at what a patient goes through in a clinical setting. Dr. Dustin Joubert, assistant professor of kinesiology and health science, discussed how to estimate body fat percentage using skinfold calipers and demonstrated how the dual energy X-ray absorptiometry machine operates. The DEXA machine scans a person’s body to test the strength of bones.

“While most nutrition counselors or registered dietitians may not take skinfold measurements or operate the DEXA machine, the results are something that many may have available to them as part of the health care team,” Drake said. “This exercise helped students get a better understanding of what patients go through when these measurements are taken and how they feel when they are told their results. In class, we discussed how to use this information to motivate patients.”

Kinesiology graduate and undergraduate students assisted Drake’s class in operating the skinfold calipers.