This double degree is for students who want to combine their passion for health and exercise with nutrition.

The exercise and sport science component will equip you with the skills to design, deliver and assess exercise and physical activity programs to improve the health and wellbeing of clients, their performance, or to prevent chronic diseases such as diabetes and arthritis. The nutrition and food sciences component will allow you to be ready to improve the health, fitness and wellbeing of the community by innovating foods, promoting and managing diets and lifestyles and conducting meaningful research for enhanced wellbeing. 

Become immersed in an environment that provides practical learning opportunities, whilst being guided by world-class industry experts.

What you'll need

Students who undertake activities where interaction with patients/the public is required for their degree, such as field or clinical placements/visits and in University clinics and gyms, must demonstrate they meet mandatory pre-placement conditional requirements. These include criminal history clearance, a Working with Children Check and immunisation requirements. Please visit the Clinical Placement Unit for information on key requirements, and to access the full student checklists.

What you'll learn

This double degree will provide you with expertise in the areas of exercise and sport science, and nutrition and food science. You will graduate with a specialised set of skills to meet emerging market needs. Through theoretical and practical learning, you will become an expert in all aspects of exercise and sport science, and graduate with the skills needed to design, implement and evaluate exercise and physical activity programs. You’ll understand diets and lifestyles for optimum health and the associations between nutrient intake, energy output and obesity. Also learn how to manage and improve nutrition and diet related to physical activity and lifestyle changes, and how to maximise physical performance for healthy active people.  

During the first two years you will learn about nutrition and study exercise and sport science courses, which will give you a solid foundation in:

• human anatomy and physiology
• fundamental movement skills
• skill acquisition
• chemistry and biology.

The third and fourth years have a strong practical focus, where you will develop critical thinking and practice-based skills through learning about:

• exercise prescription and delivery
• relationship between food bioactives, functional foods and medicines
• developing personalised dietary and exercise plans to manage weight
• nutrition for sports, exercise and activity.

As the health, nutrition, exercise and wellness industries continue to grow, employment prospects for graduates of this double degree are promising. Careers to consider include:

• exercise scientist: assist people to increase their fitness, sporting performance and general health using a combination of biomechanics, physiology and performance analysis
• physical training specialist: advise clients on exercise, health, wellbeing and nutrition; develop and implement individual training plans
• sports and fitness nutritionist: responsible for improving the health and optimising the performance of athletes
• researcher: plan and conduct laboratory-based investigations, experiments and trials, and analyse results in order to broaden scientific understanding
• community nutritionist: create changes in attitude toward nutrition and health; provide advice, guidance and support to the community
• health promotion officer: plan and coordinate health promotion programs for various community groups 
• community sports project officer: develop, coordinate and manage programs delivered by community sport organisations
• health promotion officer: use social and environmental interventions to improve the health of groups and individuals.

Professional accreditation and recognition

This degree is accredited by Exercise and Sport Science Australia (ESSA). Graduates are eligible to apply for registration as an Accredited Exercise Scientist through ESSA.