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Early Childhood, Health and Food

Code: 102005
Credits: 4
2026/2027
Degree programme Type Course
Early Childhood Education FB 3

Contact lecturer

Name :
Rafael Montiel Duarte
Email :
rafael.montiel@uab.cat

Teaching staff

Roser Pratdesaba Moreno

Group languages

You can consult this information at the end of the document.

Prerequisites

It is desirable to have passed the subjects of Education and Educational Contexts (1st year) and Society, Family and School (2nd year).

Objectives

The course Childhood, Health and Nutrition aims to provide future early childhood education professionals with the basic tools to promote children's well-being and healthy development from a holistic perspective. The main objectives are:

-            To understand the general organization of the human body, its systems and organs, and the basic physiological processes involved in growth, nutrition and child development.

-            To understand the fundamental principles of nutrition and healthy eating in early childhood, as well as the factors that may influence them (habits, socioeconomic context, culture, etc.).

-            To explore the relationship between health, nutrition, sleep, movement and emotional development, and to identify strategies that foster healthy habits in the school setting.

-            To develop resources and strategies for health education, including body awareness, self-care and prevention.

-            To acquire basic skills for early detection, collaborate with healthcare professionals and intervene in first aid situations within the educational environment.

Learning outcomes

  1. Learn the basics of healthy eating.
  2. Know the main habits to maintain good children's health.
  3. Being aware of the constant renewal of scientific knowledge related to health, and understanding the importance of permanent updating and continuous training.
  4. Understand that certain individual attitudes can have effects on the health of the people around us and foster responsible practices.
  5. Learn the basic principles of human physiology, including child growth and development and human diversity.
  6. Know the basic principles of nutrition and the composition of a balanced diet.
  7. Identifying disorders in sleep, feeding, psychomotor development, attention and auditory and visual perception.
  8. Know the resources and networks that exist to establish partnerships between health professionals and educators.
  9. Detect emotional, nutritional and wellness needs that hinder the proper physical and mental development of pupils.
  10. Understand that promoting health in children includes the whole family.
  11. Critically analyse the principles, values and procedures that govern the exercise of the profession.

Contents

Health and healthcare services
Introduction to the concepts of health and illness, levels of care and healthcare systems, and the role of health education in early childhood settings.


The human body and development
General organization of the human body, child growth and development, biological diversity, and basic notions of inheritance.


Nutrition, food and healthy habits
Basic principles of child nutrition, food culture, and the promotion of healthy habits in schools and at home.


Body systems and vital functions
Knowledge of the main body systems and their relationship to vital energy, movement, internal regulation, and overall health.


Health education, early detection and first aid
Education for self-care, prevention, and health promotion. Early detection of health-related needs or disorders, and basic first aid response in educational contexts.

Learning activities and methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Evaluation 5 0.2 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
Face-to-face teaching 20 0.8 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
Seminars 10 0.4 3, 4, 7, 9, 10, 11
Academic tutoring 15 0.6 1, 2, 5, 6, 8
Student's autonomous work 50 2 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11

The protagonist in the teaching-learning process is the student, and it is under this premise that the methodology of the subject has been planned. Beyond theoretical exposicions, training activities will be carried out in small groups, and participation will be encouraged through the digital tools available on the Virtual Campus.

Annotation: within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Assessment

Continuous assessment activities

Title Weight Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Examination of the firts part of the subject 40% 0 0 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
Compendium of the activities carried out during face-to-face teaching (activities proposed at theory classes will be individual, whereas those from seminars will be either individual or by pairs) 20% 0 0 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
Examination of the seconfd part of the subject (individual) 40% 0 0 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

To pass the subject, a minimum average grade of 5 must be obtained.

In this grade, the average grade of the controls (individual and in test-type format) will be counted whenever this is equal to or greater than 4. To be considered in the calculation of the average of the controls the minimum grade of each control must be of 4.

There will be two partial exams. For the Wednesday morning group, the first one will be on March 10th and the second on June 9th. For the Friday evening group, the first one will be on April 2nd and the second on June 11th.

The recovery exam will be on Juny 23rd for the Wednesday morning group, and June 25th for the Friday evening group. Only students who have failed the subject or failed one of the two tests, but who have previously been assessed in a set of activities whose weight is equivalent to a minimum of two-thirds of the subject's total grade, can take the recovery exam.

There will be 10 hours of seminar throughout the course. Although the work methodology in each of them can be individual or group, a final document must be delivered for its individual evaluation. The average of the activities derived from the seminars must reach 4 to be considered for the final grade of the subject.

In relation to the evidence of the activities carried out on in-person classes, these will only be collected during the period indicated by the teacher. For this evidence there will be no recovery.

To pass this subject, the student needs to show good general communication skills, both orally and in writing, and a command of the language or vehicular languages listed in the teaching guide. In all activities (individual and group), linguistic correction, writing and formal aspects of presentation will therefore be considered.

Students must be able to express themselves fluently and correctly and must show a high degree of understanding of academic texts. An activity can be returned (not evaluated) or suspended if the teacher considers that it does not meet these requirements.

Class attendance is compulsory: the student must attend a minimum of 80% of classes, both theory and seminars. Otherwise, it will be considered that they have not been able to provide sufficient evaluation evidence and the qualification of "Not Assessable" will be obtained. Likewise, students will obtain the qualification of "Not Assessable" if they have not delivered more than 30% of the assessment activities.

The activities carried out in the classroom will be delivered throughout the semester and will be returned in a period not exceeding 20 working days. The online delivery tools available on the Virtual Campus will be used preferentially, but the seminars will also have in-person deliveries at the end of the session.

During the performance of the evaluation controls, the copying of another classmate will result in the qualification of a zero in the activity. In case of recidivism, the entire subject will be suspended.

In the evaluation of autonomous activities, copying or plagiarism of material constitutes a serious infraction, which will result in the activity being graded zero. In case of recidivism, the entire subject will be suspended.

Single assessment: It will take place on June 9th, 2027, for Wednesday group and June 11th for Friday group; there will be an in-person exam in which the theoretical content of the entire course will be assessed (80% of the mark) and all seminar activities will be delivered individually (20% of the grade) through the virtual campus. The minimum grade to be able to average the exam and the seminar assignments must be equal to or higher than 4 in each of the parts. On June 23 or June 25, there will be a recovery test for students who have failed the theory exam, for the Wednesday or the Friday group, respectively.

From the second enrolment, the assessment of the subject will consist of a single summary test. The grade of the subject will correspond to the grade of this test.


Restricted use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

This subject allows the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies exclusively in tasks of bibliographic search or search for information, correction of texts or translations. Other situations can be contemplated, always with the approval of the teacher. In any case, the student must (i) identify the parts that have been generated with AI; (ii) specify the tools used; and (iii) include a critical reflection on how these have influenced the process and the final result of the activity. The non-transparency of the use of AI in evaluable activities will be considered lack of academic honesty and implies that the activity is evaluated with a 0 and cannot be recovered, or greater penalties in more serious cases.


Bibliography

Cassan, Adolfo. (2009). El gran llibre del cos humà. (2ª edició). Barcelona: Ed. Parramón.

Marieb, Elaine Nicpon; Keller, Suzanne M. (2024) Essentials of Human Anatomy & Physiology. (13th edition). Pearson.

Mader, Sylvia S.; Windelspecht, Michael D. (2025) Human Biology. (17th edition). McGraw Hill.

Estrada, Néstor; Maulini, Liliana; Montenegro, Raúl; Murialdo, Raquel. (2019). Biología humana. Editorial Brujas

Generalitat de Catalunya. (1984). Educació per a la salut a l'escola. Orientacions i programes. Barcelona: Generalitat de Catalunya.

Estivill, Eduard; Pin, Gonzalo. (2016) Peditaría con sentido común. (1ª Edición). Madrid: Debolsillo

Lissauer, Tom; Clayden, Graham. (2008). Texto ilustrado de Pediatría. (3ª Edición) Madrid: Elsevier España, S.L.

Organización Mundial de la Salud. Género y Salud. Recovered from: https://www.who.int/es/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/gender

Fox, Stuart Ira. (2008). Fisiología Humana. (10ª Edició). Madrid: Mac GRaw-Hill interamericana.

Openstax Anatomy & Physiology. https://openstax.org/details/books/anatomy-and-physiology (on-line open access)

Software

No specific software is required.

Course groups and languages

The information provided is provisional until November 30. After this date, you will be able to consult the language of each group through this link. To access the information, you will need to enter the course CODE

Type of teaching Group Language Semester Shift
(TE) Theory 61 Catalan/Spanish second semester morning-mixed
(TE) Theory 62 Catalan second semester afternoon
(SEM) Seminars 611 Catalan/Spanish second semester morning-mixed
(SEM) Seminars 621 Catalan second semester afternoon