Have you ever thought that you would be calculating the calories of the food you take? People these days pay more attention to the number of calories they take in instead of looking at the nutrient intake. The world is in desperate need of acquiring more knowledge about food now.
This is due to diseases like obesity, PCOD, hypertension, diabetes, etc. It is said that ‘Health is Wealth’. If you are a good nutritionist or a dietician you will have both health and wealth in your hands. Let us understand the difference between a nutritionist and a dietician along with the educational qualifications you need to pursue a career in this field.
People think that both nutritionists and dieticians do the same thing and use these words interchangeably. But, these two professions are not the same in terms of education, qualifications, and day to day roles.
What Does a Dietician Do?
A dietician plans, monitors, and supervises diet for patients with certain medical conditions. These conditions can be diabetes, PCOD, food allergies, etc., among others. They serve across hospitals, clinics, health centres or their own private clinics. Dieticians are regulated, where you need to meet certain professional requirements and hold a license to treat people. Dietetics is medicinal and diagnostic in nature.
Dieticians can further be divided into groups according to the service they provide -
1. Clinical Dieticians
They provide medical nutrition therapy for patients in hospitals and nursing care facilities. They assess patients' nutritional needs, plan their diet according to nutritional values for weight loss or weight gain according to the patient’s condition.
2. Community Dieticians
They develop nutrition programs designed to prevent disease and promote health. Dieticians in this practice area, work in fitness centers, corporate wellness programs, or home health agencies.
3. Corporate Dieticians
They work in food manufacturing, advertising, and marketing. In these areas, dieticians analyze foods, prepare literature for distribution, or report on issues like vitamin supplements.
4. Management Dieticians
They do large scale meal planning and preparation in health care facilities, company cafeteria, prisons, schools, and colleges. They enforce sanitary and safety regulations and prepare records and reports.
5. Consultant Dieticians
They work under contract with health care facilities or in their own private practice. They perform nutrition assessments for their clients and advise them about diet-related concerns, such as weight loss or cholesterol reduction.
What Does a Nutritionist Do?
Nutritionist focuses on promoting healthy habits and a balanced lifestyle. They do not treat patients. Rather, they exclusively work with healthy individuals who are seeking to improve their nutrition intake and lifestyle by making better choices about the food they eat.
They are not regulated by law as dieticians. In fact, anyone who has proper knowledge can call themselves a nutritionist. This makes it difficult to recognize a nutritionist who is a self taught, qualified and genuine. So, certain countries have introduced the term, ‘registered nutritionist’ with a degree in nutrition science to avoid confusion.
Nutritionists specialize in various categories. These are mentioned below -
1. Sports Nutrition Specialist
Sports nutritionists work in schools, colleges, or universities with athletic programs. They guide their clients with proper intake of food to keep fit and healthy. They also work in tandem with a food service provider on recipes and menu planning for the dining area.
2. Pediatric Nutrition Specialist
This area of specialization leads to a wide array of career paths. This includes clinics, hospitals, consulting, and child day-care centers. They counsel parents about their child's diet or teach children about good eating habits.
3. Home Health Care Nutrition Specialist
Families who need diet guidance can consult a home health care nutritionist. In some cases, these specialists work on behalf of hospitals, nonprofit organizations, or consultancies.
Eligibility Criteria for Nutrition and Dietetics
The courses in Nutrition and Dietetics are offered at diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate level. There are institutes in India and other countries. Admissions to these courses are based on merit. Few institutes also conduct an entrance test for admission.
To do M.Sc in nutrition, one needs to have a basic graduate degree preferably in science. One may also pursue a yearlong PG Diploma in Nutrition and dietetics. Fresh graduates are trained by F&B departments of hospitals. The PG Diploma course requires at minimum a degree in Science.
To do the Bachelor program in Nutrition and dietetics, one should have completed Intermediate with physics, biology, and chemistry. The B.Sc is a three-year program.
How to Become a Registered Dietician?
In India, in order to become a registered dietician, one needs to clear the RD exam conducted by Indian Dietetics Association.
For further details, click here
Conclusion
If you are someone who loves food and wants to play with the calories you take for good health, you can choose nutrition and dietetics as a career. This would create a wonderful and unconventional pathway for you if you are looking forward to such career options after high school.
Written by - Sravanthi Cheerladinne
Edited by - Neha Kundu
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