Tormod Bjørkkjær

I research on the role of food and meals, especially in kindergartens, schools and higher education. This includes mapping, designing interventions, user participation, implementation and evaluation of outcomes and process. Furthermore, I research on teaching practices in Food and Health (Home Economics) in primary and lower secondary school, as well as the importance of formal competence in Food and Health subject, and interdisciplinarity related to the subject renewal in school. All the above relates to public health efforts connected to different target groups in important universal arenas that reach many.

Among other things, we have shown an untapped potential in kindergarten, where one-year-olds accept the introduction of vegetables through the Pre-schoolers’ Food Courage intervention. Experiences show that this surprises and positively affects the kindergarten employees' practices and their preconceptions. This can have long-term public health effects. Pre-schoolers’  Food Courage is part of the implementation project Nutrition Now, where I am the work package leader for data management.

In Nutrition Now project, evidence-based digital dietary interventions are implemented, for example in the kindergarten sector. Furthermore, I am a co-supervisor in the PhD project Skills for life, a dietary course for students in higher education.

In the Nordic networks LEARNFOOD and FENN, the focus is on sharing experiences on school meals and food education through Food and Health in school, respectively.

Among other things, I lead the PhD project TEACHFOOD, which examines teaching practices in year 9 in Food and Health related to the core elements health-promoting diet and sustainable diet.

I teach on Public Health Science, Bachelor's programme and supervise master students in Public Health Science. I supervise on PhD-level in public health specialization at the faculty. I also teach on Master's level in Food and Health (Home Economics) and food and meals for primary and Lower Secondary Teacher Education.

01.03.19-dd: Associate Professor of Nutrition, Department of Nutrition and Public Health, Faculty of Health and Sports Sciences, UiA (changed name from Department of Public Health, Sports and Nutrition in 2019). Temporary position in the period 1st August 2016 to 31st July 2017.

01.08.13-28.02.19: Associate Professor of Food and Health, Department of Sports, Nutrition and Natural Sciences, Faculty of Teacher Education, Culture and Sports, University of Western Norway (HVL, formerly Bergen University College)

01.01.12-31.07.13: Subject coordinator Evje clinic (obesity lifestyle clinic)

01.10.03-30.06.13: Researcher National Institute for Nutrition and Seafood Research (NIFES, now Institute of Marine Research). In the period 01.10.03-31.12.04 I was a junior researcher, and in the period 01.01.05-31.12.08 I was a PhD fellow with workplace NIFES (affiliated to the Department of Biomedicine, University of Bergen, as well as Haukeland University Hospital)

Teaching practice in the school subject food and health

The importance of competence in the school subject of Food and Health

Food and meal practices in the kindergarten

School lunches and after-school meals

Children's food courage

Food and learning

Healthy and sustainable diet

Changing habits – mapping, interventions and implementation

Lifecourse Nutrition - responsible for research related to the school subject Food and Health

Projects: 

Nutrition Now 

LEARNFOOD 2

TEACHFOOD - TEACHing practices, learning processes and food competence in the school subject FOOD and health

Food Education Network North (FENN) 

Competence needs for Food and Health 

Food and Health in the future primary and lower secondary school 2

Skills for life 

·       Bjørkkjær, Tormod; Øverby, Nina Cecilie (2023). Betydningen av mat og måltider for læring i grunnskolen. Læring gennem mad og måltider i grundskolen Teori og praksis fra Danmark, Sverige og Norge. ISBN: 9788202797744. Cappelen Damm Akademisk. Kapitel 3.2. s 215 - 235.

·       Bjørkkjær, Tormod; Palojoki, Päivi; Beinert, Cecilie (2023). Harnessing the untapped potential of food education in schools: Nurturing the school subject Food and Health. Maternal & Child Nutrition. ISSN: 1740-8695. doi:10.1111/mcn.13521.

·       Helland, Sissel Heidi; Øverby, Nina Cecilie; Blomkvist, Eli Anne Myrvoll; Hillesund, Elisabet Rudjord; Strømmer, Sofia; Barker, Mary Elizabeth; Bjørkkjær, Tormod (2021). Wow! They really like celeriac! Kindergarten teachers' experiences of an intervention to increase 1-year-olds' acceptance of vegetables. Appetite. ISSN: 0195-6663. 166doi:10.1016/j.appet.2021.105581.

Bjørkkjær, Tormod; Vik, Frøydis Nordgård. Nordic nutrition recommendations and future dietary advice. Commentary from Norway with focus on dietary advice and further process. Learnfood 2 webinar; 2023-11-08

Bjørkkjær, Tormod; Palojoki, Päivi; Beinert, Cecilie. Is it about time to take food competence seriously? Fædrelandsvennen, 2023-09-07

Korslund, Silje; Hansen, Bjørge Herman; Bjørkkjær, Tormod. Unhealthy health behaviors in Agder County. Fædrelandsvennen, 2023-05-11

Aadland, Eli Kristin; Bjørkkjær, Tormod. Which frame factors impact the implementation of school lunch in primary and secondary school? Learnfood 1 webinar; 2023-04-25

Bjørkkjær, Tormod; Øverby, Nina Cecilie. Which impact does food and meals have for learning in primary and lower secondary school? Learnfood 1 webinar; 2023-04-25.