Besides for the role of nutritionist or dietitian, which is described below, here are some other types of jobs available to those with a nutrition degree.
Nutritionist or Dietitian
What are the daily tasks for various Nutritionists and Dietitians?
The day-to-day activities in the nutritional field vary wildly depending on the area of expertise and specific location of practice. In general, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Nutritionists and Registered Dietitians “plan food and nutrition programs, supervise meal preparation, and oversee the serving of meals. They prevent and treat illnesses by promoting healthy eating habits and recommending dietary modifications.”
Clinical Nutritionists and Dietitians, those working in hospitals, clinics and long and short term care facilities, focus on patients who’s primary illnesses can range from diabetes, heart disease, kidney failure, or obesity to routine operations and hospital stays due to illness or injury. This environment means working closely with physicians, nurses and other medical specialists as a team to treat patients. Those interested in a hospital or care facility environments would be urged to learn more about the facilities in their area.
Community Nutritionists and Dietitians work primarily in public health clinics, health and human services agencies, and private community clinics counseling individuals and groups on nutritional practices designed to prevent disease and promote health. Working in places such as public health clinics, home health agencies and health maintenance organizations, community Nutritionists and Dietitians review their patients needs and prepare nutritional recommendations to fit their specific needs and lifestyles.
Additionally, nutrition professionals can consult on regular daily activities such as food shopping and preparation to the elderly, children, and patients or clients with special needs. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, “increased public interest in nutrition has led to job opportunities in food manufacturing, advertising, and marketing. In these areas, dietitians analyze foods, prepare literature for distribution, or report on issues such as dietary fiber, vitamin supplements, or the nutritional content of recipes.”
Management Nutritionists and Dietitians spend their days primarily in health care facilities, cafeterias, prisons, and schools. A position as a Management Nutritionist or Dietitian can be very rewarding, as the job specifications entail managing large groups of food service professionals in a fast-paced, demanding environment. Preparing meals for large groups of people on a daily basis can involve not only food preparation but the coordination of a staff of workers, supply orders and accounting.
Consultant Nutritionists and Dietitians, on the other hand, work primarily with health care facilities or for a private practice. These professionals perform client nutritional screenings and prescribe diet-related advice for the alleviation of ailments such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
Bariatric Nutritionist
What Is A Bariatric Nutritionist?
The word Bariatric comes from the Greek language. The root word baros means weight while the word iatros is the traditional word for doctor Bariatric health is the division of health care that deals specifically with one ailment, including the causes, prevention and treatment, of obesity. There are five parts to bariatrics and bariatric medicine, encompassing the following areas:
- Diet & Nutrition
- Exercise & Fitness
- Behavioral Therapy
- Pharmaceuticals/Medication
- Surgery
The increase in the existence of overweight and obese people in North America, especially within the United States, is quite alarming. Obesity in North America is determined by a certain level of an individual’s body fat, in correlation to their total body mass. This is referred to as the Body Mass Index, or BMI. People with a BMI above levels that have been specified as healthy by today’s medical field more often find themselves inflicted with ailments attributed to being overweight or obese including heart disease, diabetes, various types of cancer, asthma, obstructive sleep apnea, musculoskeletal problems, psychological problems such as depression and many others.
Bariatric nutritionists and dietitians work with doctors and other health care professionals using diet, exercise and behavioral therapy as a first line of defense against obesity. Often times, this process is undertaken over a long period of time, often years, as patients can many times gain back weight they have worked so hard to lose shortly after completing many structured programs.
Bariatric Surgery
Bariatric nutritionists and doctors have many types of treatment at their disposal, yet still must resort to medications and even bariatric surgery in the most extreme cases. In the case of bariatric surgery, there are two main options. Often times, doctors will perform a Gastric Band Surgery, where a surgeon places an implanted medical device called a gastric band around the stomach, limiting its size. Other times, surgeons will cut away parts of the stomach to limit its size, called Gastric Bypass Surgery.
Bariatric Nutritionist & Dietitian Duties
After any type of bariatric surgery, a bariatric nutritionists is on hand throughout recover to make sure the patient not only heals properly, but continues to eat healthy, enabling them the highest possible chances of a return to a healthy lifestyle. Nutritional counseling becomes the single most important aspect of recovery after bariatric surgery, and these specialists must have the training, knowledge and sills to treat each patient’s specific needs.
These nutritionists and dietitians are often referred to as Bariatric Nutrition Coordinators. A bariatric nutritionist or dietitian provides patients with both technical, nutritional and moral support throughout the entire process, often times becoming a counselor as well.
Cancer Nutritionists & Dietitians
What makes a cancer nutritionist, often referred to as an oncology nutritionist, different from other nutritionists and dietitians? What do nutritionists and dietitians do when they are focused solely on patients who have been diagnosed with a type of cancer? Nutrition plays three major factors in the medical fight against cancer:
- Nutrition As Prevention
- Nutrition To Support Cancer Treatment
- Nutrition As A Treatment For Cancer
For nutritionists and dietitians who are working with patients currently battling cancer, numbers two and three are relevant to this section of information. Moreover, cancer nutritionists and dietitians working specifically with children have additional criteria they must focus on.
Nutrition To Support Cancer Treatment
Nutrition is the most important factor that people can do each day to ensure good health. However, as we all know, this can be difficult even in the best of times. Eating enough fruits and vegetables, limiting fat and simple sugars and drinking enough water is not always as easy as it sounds. But when cancer patients are faced with the affects of various ailments from either the cancer or the treatment, eating healthy can become nearly impossible.
Many cancer treatments such as surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, hormone therapy or immunotherapy not only kill cancer cells, but many of the body’s necessary good cells along with them. Nutrition therapy then becomes the single most important factor in the patients fight to regain health from many of these treatments.
According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), cancer patients can suffer from a number of affects from their illness and their treatment, including:
- Loss of appetite
- Sore/Dry mouth or throat
- Dental and gum problems
- Changes in taste or smell
- Nausea/Vomiting
- Diarrhea & Constipation
- Fatigue & Depression
Fighting cancer is a 24-hour a day, 7 day a week job, and it is up to the patient to give their best fight. A nutritionist or dietitian working with cancer patients is absolutely integral to the patient’s ability to remain as healthy as possible through the prescription of a balanced diet, provision of the right foods and liquids and any necessary supplements that can assist in the patients fight against both the cancer and any negative side-affects of the treatment.
Nutrition As A Treatment For Cancer
For many people diagnosed with cancer these days, there is a wide range of naturopathic and holistic treatments to their illness. With the negative side-affects of many of today’s traditional cancer treatments, more patients are choosing to fight their cancer with nutrition and other naturopathic regiments. For others, their cancer may not be curable with conventional medicine, or simply past the point of treatment. For these patients, nutrition becomes paramount as a means to combat their illness, from fighting the cancer back to simply improving their quality of life for the duration of their illness.
Patients needs differ depending on a wide range of factors, from the type of cancer they are battling to the types of treatments they have chosen to use. Doctors, nurses, nutritionists and dietitians work closely with cancer patients and their families to identify the specific needs of each patient, to put together a plan to provide the patient the best chance at a healthy fight. A good nutrition plan during cancer treatment can affect the following areas of the patient’s experience:
- More energy & strength
- Maintaining weight & increasing the body’s ability to store nutrients
- Improve the body’s ability to tolerate side effects of treatment
- Lowers risk of infection
- Speeds recovery after each round of treatment
A complete nutritional treatment includes a careful analysis of each patient, identifying the levels of nutrients including proteins, carbohydrates, fats, water and all necessary vitamins and minerals.
Clinical & Medical Nutritionists and Dietitians
Clinical Nutritionists and Dietitians work in hospitals, clinics, long-term and short-term care facilities. They focus primarily on patients whose illnesses can range from diabetes, heart disease, kidney failure, or obesity to routine operations and hospital stays due to illness or injury. This environment means working closely with physicians, nurses and other medical specialists as a team to treat patients. Those interested in a hospital or care facility environments would be urged to learn more about the facilities in their area.
Medical Nutritionists work mostly in hospitals, outpatient and community clinics, long and short-term care facilities and research institutes. Much like Clinical Nutritionists, Medical Nutritionists are trained primarily in anatomy, physiology and biology. Their job is to ascertain the root causes or many chronic diseases and prescribe diet and lifestyle changes that will benefit their patients.
What are the daily tasks for clinical Nutritionists and Dietitians?
According to the National Academy of Science, “95% of all chronic diseases are caused by diet, the environment and lifestyles factors. Genetics accounts for five percent of these diseases.”
A Clinical Nutritionist uses the latest biomedical and physiological information and research to assess individual patient’s needs. From this analysis, they are able to prescribe the proper nutrition and diet according to that individual’s optimum biological function.
According to the US Clinical Nutrition Certification Board (CNCB), Clinical Nutritionists use “case history, anthropomorphic measurements, physical signs, laboratory tests, and nutrition/lifestyle analysis” in order to assess an individual patients needs for dietary and nutritional optimization. From this assessment, a prescription can be made and, if needed, a proper referral to a physician or other medical professional.
Much like a Clinical Nutritionist or Dietitian, a Medical Nutritionist or Dietitian also uses biomedical and physiological information and research to assess an individual patient’s needs, prescribing that patient’s proper nutrition and diet. Both positions would work closely with doctors, nurses and research analysts.
Community Nutritionist & Dietitian Careers
Areas Of Practice
Community Nutritionists and Dietitians work primarily in public health clinics, health and human services agencies, and private community clinics counseling individuals and groups on nutritional practices designed to prevent disease and promote health. Working in places such as public health clinics, home health agencies and health maintenance organizations, community Nutritionists and Dietitians review their patients needs and prepare nutritional recommendations to fit their specific needs and lifestyles.
What are the daily tasks for Community Nutritionists and Dietitians?
Community nutrition professionals can consult on regular daily activities such as food shopping and preparation to the elderly, children, and patients or clients with special needs. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, “increased public interest in nutrition has led to job opportunities in food manufacturing, advertising, and marketing. In these areas, dietitians analyze foods, prepare literature for distribution, or report on issues such as dietary fiber, vitamin supplements, or the nutritional content of recipes.”
Culinary Arts
Why Study Culinary Arts & Nutrition?
For those who have a passion for both nutrition and cooking, the desire to create meals that are both delicious and healthy, and wish to spend their career in the kitchen, a degree in culinary arts may be for you. Additionally, the possibilities of a career in the field of culinary arts are much higher when a degree in culinary arts is pursued alongside a degree in nutrition. There are a variety of chef’s who are focused on the preparation of natural, healthy, vitamin rich meals.
A nutritional culinary artist is able to prepare meals that not only look and taste great, but are also therapeutic, nourishing and even catered to specific dietetic needs, including the combat of diseases such as cancer, diabetes, food allergies and intolerances and other ailments. Moreover, many nutritional chefs are hired to create diets with specific meals for specified training for events such as marathons or other sporting activities. Many other nutritional chefs are hired simply to assist clients to lose weight.
A chef is not just the head of a kitchen. He or she is an artist, a nutritionist and a diet consultant, hired to prepare foods that not only taste great, but to provide their client with the nutrients they need to reach their specific health, diet and fitness goals. A graduate of culinary arts and nutrition understands not only their way around a kitchen, mastering all necessary tools and types of food involved, but also the business side of preparing meals in small or large kitchens for clients from individuals and small groups all the way up to large scale restaurant or banquet settings.
What Does A Degree In Culinary Arts & Nutrition Consist Of?
A program from a culinary arts school may very between each college or university, depending on the level of nutritional instruction and its focus in a specific area of culinary arts. However, most programs at the universities providing degrees in culinary arts and nutrition will include instruction of the following skills:
- Traditional culinary skills including work with knives and other kitchen tools, proper work place sanitation and efficiency and effectiveness in food preparation.
- Preparing traditional foods by using traditional ingredients in non-traditional, healthier ways.
- Meal preparation using alternative ingredients including organics, nutritional supplements, raw foods, etc.
- Begin the development of a list of recipes to build upon when starting your career.
- Creating individualized, custom meal plans for clients with specific ailments including cancer, diabetes, heart disease, food allergies including celiac disease and other wheat allergies, digestion disorders and many other issues.
- How to make quantity conversions to adapt recipes to specific clients and meal plans.
- How to plan, prepare and serve all types of meals. Classes will vary depending on each school’s program and their individual focus. However, most culinary arts degrees that focus on nutrition will likely include courses in the following areas:
- General & Specific Nutrition Courses
- Restaurant Menu Planning & Preparation
- Restaurant Marketing
- Food Service Management
- Food & Beverage Purchasing
- Kitchen Skills
- Meal Preparation & Presentation
View our list of culinary arts degrees here at Nutritionist World and find a program that meets your educational and career goals. There are programs both campus-based and online to choose from.
Culinary Arts, Nutrition & Food Allergies
The culinary arts degree with a focus on nutrition has become much more prevalent with today’s increased understanding of food allergies and food intolerances. It is estimated that there are over 12 million Americans with significant food allergies alone, and this number is rising. The most common food allergies in North American consist of the following eight foods, causing roughly 90 percent of all food allergies:
- Dairy – (Heiner Syndrome)
- Eggs
- Peanuts
- Tree Nuts
- Seafood
- Shellfish
- Soy – (MSPI)
- Wheat/Gluten – (Celiac)
At the present time, the known treatment approach by doctors worldwide is a change or adjustment in diet. For this reason, the demand for chef’s who understand these ailments and who are able to provide healthy, great tasting meals for the people who suffer from these allergies has risen very fast over the past decade. As nutritionists and doctors continue to improve their understanding of these food allergies and intolerances, including diagnosis and treatment, culinary chefs with an understanding of nutrition and food allergies will continue to be demanded on much higher levels.
Holistic & Homeopathic Nutritionist Careers
Areas Of Practice
According to a holistic nutrition approach, as opposed to traditional nutrition, this field focuses primarily on disease prevention. Holistic medicine has continued to increase in popularity over the past decade, and is expected to increase further into the near future. Holistic and Homeopathic Nutritionists can be found primarily in private holistic and homeopathic clinics, community support agencies, retail nutrition and wellness centers, private communities, hospitality including hotels and resorts and consulting companies.
What are the daily tasks for Holistic Nutritionists and Dietitians?
In response to a variety of health practices that have become popular including herbology, naturopathic medicine, ayurvedic philosophy, yoga and acupuncture, Holistic and Homeopathic Nutritionists have begun to gain popularity in the nutrition science fields. A Holistic or Homeopathic
Nutritionist will typically provide patients with nutritional information regarding the benefits of unprocessed foods, where this type of nutrition may be available, and how to maximize the nutritional value for the individual physiology of each patient. This includes prescribing the correct amount of proteins, carbohydrates, healthy fats, vitamins and minerals to optimize their health.
A Nutritionist or Registered Dietitian will prescribe a diet using current latest research and professional experience to allow their patients the highest possible nutrition and physiological body functioning. A Holistic or Homeopathic Nutritionist is no different, focusing on ailments including high blood pressure, cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes, obesity and others. Holistic or Homeopathic Nutritionists, however, advocate the consumption of natural foods such as nuts, fruits, and vegetables in place of processed food in an effort to maximize the nutritional value for their patients.
Family Nutritionist
Areas Of Practice
A Family Nutritionist or Dietitian works much like a Community Nutritionist or Dietitian. However, they focus more of their energy on domestic issues. Family Nutritionists and Dietitians work primarily in public health clinics, home health agencies, health and human services agencies or with smaller private practices, counseling families and caregivers on the latest nutritional information and research to promote family wellbeing. Family Nutritionists and Dietitians may also work closely with pediatricians and family physicians in hospitals and community health practices.
What are the daily tasks for Family Nutritionists?
Family Nutritionist and Dietitian tasks may include practice pertaining to maternity and childbirth, raising children, food preparation for families, caring for elders, and general promotion of healthy nutritional habits. Family practitioners deal with issues ranging from meal preparation for picky eaters to nutritional advice for the treatment of diabetic, overweight or otherwise at-risk children.
As our population ages, diet and meal planning for the elderly has also become an important issue. Moreover, with the latest economic hardships felt across the country, everything from low-income grocery budgets to suggestions for economical, healthy snacks has become more and more important. Family Nutritionists and Dietitians have lately found their profession at the heart of solving these issues.
Integrative Medicine
What Is Integrative Medicine?
Integrative Nutrition, a branch of the larger field of Integrative Medicine, is the practice of treating people with a holistic approach to medicine and health care, focused on not just the ailing part of the body, but where the entire mind, body, and spirit are taken into consideration. An ‘integrative medical approach’ views all health issues as intertwined, where the best solution to any ailment, illness or injury is encompassed in the greater mental and physical aspects of the human body.
Although nothing new, integrative medicine and Integrative Nutrition have begun to become more popular with the general populations of North America and the Western World over recent decades.
According to physicians at Duke University’s Center for integrative medicine, a patient should be seen coming into the hospital, clinic or physician’s office as a ‘complete human being’, instead of merely the ‘sum of his or her illness, injury or ailment’. For this reason, medical doctors as well as nurses, nutritionists and dietitians, chiropractors, massage therapists, physical therapists and even dentists and orthodontists, as well as numerous other health care professionals, have begun to focus their practice on a complete, holistic form of integrative medicine.
By treating the entire body, mind and spirit, these health care professionals have continued to find that this approach to health care can provide faster, easier, safer and more long lasting affects on their patients.
Integrative Medicine Treatments
In addition to conventional Western medical practice including traditional medications, surgeries and other medical procedures, today’s integrative health care professionals have begun to provide their patients with a host of alternative treatments and procedures to compliment their treatments. Most commonly referred to as complementary and alternative medicine, or CAM, these treatments often including the following:
- Nutrition
- Herbal/Alternative Medicine
- Improved Fitness Regimes
- Yoga
- Tai Chi
- Meditation
- Acupuncture
- Massage
- Biofeedback (A process of monitoring the body’s various physiological functions using instruments in order to manipulate them at will.)
- Stress Reduction Techniques
- Ayurvedic Medicine
- Homeopathic Medicine
- Naturopathic Medicine
Attributed partly to American’s growing dissatisfaction with the country’s worsening health care system, a greater number of patients are seeking alternative methods of healing including Integrative Medicine and Integrative Nutrition. More hospitals each year are indicating that they plan to incorporate Integrative Medicine and integrative medical professionals in the near future.
As such, many health care insurance providers are becoming more knowledgeable about the affects of integrative care, causing these types of treatments to become more and more likely to be reimbursed by insurance companies in the future.
Naturopathic Nutritionist
The primary focus of naturopathic or holistic nutrition, unlike conventional mainstream nutrition or dietetics, is on natural remedies and the body’s physiological balance. Most importantly, focus is given to the human body’s innate ability to heal and maintain itself naturally. A naturopathic approach to nutrition and wellness identifies the imbalances in a specific diet and lifestyle and attempts to adjust these imbalances to allow the body its natural ability to correct the problems, illnesses or ailments without conventional drugs or surgery.
According to David Getoff, a well respected Naturopath and Board-Certified Clinical Nutritionist, “There is no treatment or drug which can overcome or negate the effects of a poor diet… and an unhealthy lifestyle”. First and foremost, a naturopathic outlook on nutrition identifies the body’s optimum nutritional intake and exercise level to find a healthy lifestyle that fits within these parameters. If this type of nutrition is what interests you most, you may be the right person for a career as a naturopathic nutritionist.
A Naturopathic Approach to Nutrition
Nutrition and food are the backbone of all naturopathic medicine. Naturopathic nutrition favors a holistic approach to wellness, allowing for only a minimal use of artificial supplements, drugs or surgical procedures. Moreover, prevention of illness and ailments is preferred, rather than the treatment of these preventable problems. Many of these illnesses and ailments can be prevented through the workings of a healthy diet, fitness and lifestyle adjustments and the reduction of unnecessary stress.
Naturopathic Nutrition Core Values
The general philosophy of naturopathic medicine, including nutrition, can be found in six ‘core values’:
- In order not to harm the body during treatment, provide the most effective health care available with the least risk to patients;
- Recognize, respect and promote’ the human body’s ability to heal itself and run on an optimal diet and fitness regimen;
- Identify and remove the causes of illnesses or ailments instead of treating just the symptoms;
- Educate others and persuade them to live and eat healthier for themselves;
- Treat patients with a holistic approach, taking into consideration all possible health factors and influences in the body.
- Naturopathic medicine does not just treat one person, but focuses on the environment they are in, including their community and surrounding people. A complete course of action would be to treat the entire environment of ailments, illness and disease.
Naturopathic Nutritionist Career Outlook
As health care becomes increasingly expensive, more emphasis will be put on the prevention of illness as opposed to treatment. As this is the primary goal of any naturopathic nutritionist, the industry is well positioned to increase its demand over the coming decade. An especially large amount of literature has been dedicated to many philosophies and treatments within naturopathic nutrition, and this too will lead to a better understanding of this practice throughout the general public. For those interested in naturopathic nutrition, there has never been a better time to get started.
Nutrition Coach
What Is A Nutrition Coach?
A nutrition coach is a nutritionist, counselor, consultant, trainer, mentor and motivator all in one. Many people hire nutrition coaches to assist them in their everyday lives with nutritional aspects including food choices and preparation, grocery shopping, daily caloric intake, exercise and fitness routines, family health and personal training.
In addition to healthy clients, nutrition coaches assist people with a vast number of ailments including overweight/obesity, eating disorders, unhealthy eating habits and poor nutrient intake as well as various diseases including diabetes, celiac disease, Crohn’s disease, candida, various mental health problems such as ADHD, autism & Aspergers syndrome and many types of cancer
A nutrition coach can provide a wide range of services. Although the duties are many times the same, a diet coach can also provide many of these services, yet many people go to a diet coach solely to lose weight. A nutrition coach will, in many situations, be able to provide much more to those who need additional help.
What Do Nutrition Coaches Do For Their Clients?
Nutrition Coaches have a variety of services they provide for patients and clients of all types.
- A good coach will begin by teaching the basics of general nutrition, then take a specific approach to each patient based on careful analysis of that person’s needs, their body type and any other information necessary to help that person reach their goals while keeping them safe and healthy. This stage of basic nutrition involves assistance with grocery shopping, meal preparation, nutritional supplements if needed and any other over-all advice.
- The next step will be guidance through the system that was started in step one, taking a detailed history of health and current nutritional intake, often times running multiple tests to allow the greatest possible amount of information about the patient or client. Once a nutritional program has been created, a coach will provide assistance with the instructions given and explanation of the benefits at each phase. These recommendations should be based on each individual person’s specific biochemistry, physiology, genetics, environment and lifestyle.
- Once a patient or client has begun their designed program, coaches will assist them with their specific goals they wish to achieve. Coaches continue to assist in the ascertainment of these goals, providing both medical and moral assistance throughout the process.
Nutrition Counselors
Areas Of Practice
Nutritional Counselors, most commonly Registered Dietitians, work with individual patients or groups to asses current diets, analyze the necessities of the patient and provide information, advice, nutritional information and support for changes needed. Counselors work in a variety of environments including outpatient clinics, community clinics, long and short-term care facilities, community support agencies, retail nutrition and wellness centers, private communities, educational institutions and hospitality locations including hotels and resorts.
What are the daily tasks for various Nutritional Counselors?
A Nutritional Counselor’s primary duties are to assist patients with recommended and prescribed dietary adjustments and support these patients as they make these adjustments. Patients could be seeking treatment for a variety of ailments including mental disorders hindering proper eating and dietary habits, heart problems, diabetes, obesity, old age and many others.
Nutritional Counselors often work with patients with eating disorders or drug or alchohol dependencies, as well as those required to take certain drug prescriptions for ailements including depression or anxiety disorders, with often interfere with the body’s natural digestive system.
A Nutritional Counselor will often begin their interaction with a patient of client with an interview. A preliminary assessment of that person’s dietary habits is then analyzed, including normal food intake, as well as an accurate assessment of the types of eating habits of that person. A food frequency questionnaire is often used to provide the Counselor with a clear idea of the person’s normal eating patterns. This may regard eating habits over periods of time including days, weeks, months and even years. Daily food records, prescribed by a Counselor and kept by a patient of client, on a daily basis, are also used.
A physical assessment is also used to ascertain a person’s dietary needs. Body height and weight and a body mass index, or BMI, are often used as well. From these assessments, a Nutritional Counselor will use this information to prescribe a diet, proper eating behaviors, times, restrictions and any other information necessary for optimal physiology. They will also be able to advise what is to be avoided or not done. From this point, ongoing visits and consultations will provide support and monitoring of the patient or client, where the counselor can make adjustments if needed. This also includes setting goals for the clients or patients and helping them achieve those goals.
Nutritional Counselor Job Description
- Evaluate nutritional needs for patient, food restrictions, and present day health situation to establish food habit and eating plans. Then issue patient with nutritional and food counseling.
- Talk with nutritionists and doctors to decide the patients nutritional needs and food restrictions.
- Advise clients and their families on nutritional concepts, eating plans and diet adjustments, shopping and cooking tips.
- Give guidance to the patient or patients on the regulations of healthy nutrition, better their eating habits, and follow their nutrition levels to better their lives.
Nutritionist Consultant
Areas Of Practice
Nutrition Consultants can be any number of different types of Nutritionists or Registered Dietitians, working in a variety of environments. These may include hospitals, outpatient clinics, community clinics, long and short-term care facilities, community support agencies, retail nutrition and wellness centers, consulting companies and government agencies.
What are the daily tasks for Nutrition Consultants?
Daily tasks for a Nutrition Consultant include educating patients, food service employees, other nutritional professionals and specific communities on nutritional issues including proper nutritional planning and the latest research and development in the nutrition field.
Nutrition Consultants work closely with hospital, care facilities, community and governments agency personnel to diagnose patient needs, many times in conjunction with, or under the direction of, a physician or nursing professional.
Many of the assessments a Nutrition Consultant must make include working with patients with dietary restrictions, patients with difficulty in understanding complex dietary restrictions or those exhibiting a high nutritional risk. Consultants may work with patients with a history of malnutrition or slow wound healing process or other ailments where a physician or nurse desires additional input.
In a hospital setting, a Nutrition Consultant will many times confer with physicians or nurses regarding the nutritional management of patients. They provide additional service to in-home and short and long-term care facilities as well as instruction to health care providers and caregivers on diet and nutritional management programs.
Consultants additionally serve as an educational resource for physicians’ offices and community agencies. Many times, it is Nutritional Consultants who develop and maintain disease nutritional educational material used by physicians and community clinics in their area. They may provide continuing education to nurses, private and government agency personnel in nutritional counseling and latest research.
Requirements for Nutrition Consultants include an associate’s, bachelor’s or higher degree in nutrition science or related field, sometimes also including an approved study program or internship.
Personal Trainer
If you love fitness and want to inspire others to reach their fitness goals, personal training is a good avenue to pursue. There are some personal traits that a trainer may want to fine tune to enhance their passion for health. A successful personal trainer may want to be patient, a good listener, encouraging, organized, intuitive, and have an appetite to learn new philosophies and exercises. Working with a variety of people is key to the personal training job, and every client is unique and has individual goals. Don’t worry you don’t have to possess the perfect body to be a fitness trainer, but a healthy lifestyle should be a top priority for any personal trainer. Practice what you preach.
What steps should I take to become a Personal Trainer / Fitness Nutritionist?
Step 1:
Choosing a certification is the first step to becoming a personal trainer. There are a variety of choices for getting certified. You’ll want to choose an organization that is nationally recognized and accredited. If there is a particular club you would like to work at, it would be a good idea to call and ask what certifications they prefer. If you aren’t sure exactly where you will be working, take some time to research the websites of major organizations to find a program that matches your lifestyle. Some factors you may want to consider are how much the certification costs, what the pre-requisites are, if they offer a workshop/exam in your area or, a home study program.
Step 2:
Next an individual may want to determine what area of health they would like to specialize in. This isn’t required, but fitness and health is a competitive market. Many fitness trainers find it beneficial to improve their resumes by getting specialty certifications. Getting a specialty cert means you have more to offer and, even better, you can usually charge a little more for your services. Some examples of specialties which might further your career might be healing practices, or nutrition specialist. Additional certifications take you beyond the basics of personal training, and allow you to work with special populations like people with chronic diseases or injuries.
Step 3:
After you have completed your desired education, the next step is to secure a job. Identify where you would like to work and hit the streets. You could use the internet, or a local phone book, to establish who you would like to approach. Ask about availability of jobs, the rate of turnover, and the procedure for filling out an application. Check back periodically to see if something has opened up. Some clubs allow internships, so this may be an alternative approach. An internship would allow you the opportunity to see if the club is a good fit for your goals.
Step 4:
Set up your own business by choosing a business entity (i.e., sole proprietorship, partnership, etc.), choosing a business name, registering your company with the city, getting liability insurance, setting up your gym (if you’re training from your own home), targeting potential clients, and marketing yourself. There are also many opportunities here to further your education. Take a marketing class to learn how to market your skills, or an entrepreneurial class to learn how to run your own business with a client base.
Step 5:
Once your business is situated, it’s time to let people know what you are up to, and gain some clients. Word of mouth is always the most effective form of marketing, but first you have to get the ball rolling! Some basic ways to get started might be making flyers, putting ads in newsletters, printing business cards, building your own website or offering free seminars and consultations to bring in business. Be prepared to enlist friends and family members to spread the word to people they know. Offering free consultations and seminars is a great way to get people in the door because when you help to improve others lives, they will want to tell everyone they know who helped them do it.
Areas of Practice – Overview
Personal fitness trainers work in all kinds of locations and facilities. You can decide to work for someone else, or work for your self. You can work from home or work at a facility. Some trainers work at corporations with employees, on cruise ships, at resorts, in luxury spas, or from home with online training. Once you’re an established fitness trainer many opportunities become available to you. You can even consider consulting, fitness writing, athletic coaching, group fitness instruction or even opening your own gym. Whatever you choose, you’ll find that being a personal trainer provides everything you love in one job.
Prenatal Nutritionist and Dietitian
What Is A Prenatal Nutritionist?
A prenatal nutritionist works with expecting mothers to provide optimal nutrition during the pre-pregnancy, pregnancy and post-childbirth periods. A prenatal nutritionist will also work with new mothers on optimal nutrition for breastfeeding and post childbirth health and diet.
Many expecting mothers turn to prenatal nutritionists if they are concerned about being under or overweight, unable to eat or stop eating, have special dietary needs or food allergies or any number of diet related pregnancy complications. An expecting mother’s weight gain will generally occur gradually throughout the pregnancy, totally between 25 to 35 pounds at the time of birth for those who are generally healthy prior to becoming pregnant and who are expecting to have just one baby. A prenatal nutritionist specializes in finding the appropriate weight gain to give the baby the healthiest possible time in the womb, while allowing the mother to be as healthy and comfortable as possible.
Prenatal Nutritionist Careers & Job Duties
A prenatal nutritionist will first analyze and assess a patient’s current health and diet. This analysis includes present dietary levels of elements including protein, acids, vitamins and other micronutrients including calcium and iron. Food intake will be analyzed and recommendations for the consumption of breads and cereals, fruits and vegetables and water and other fluids will be made, in addition to any nutritional supplements that may be necessary.
A prenatal nutritionist works in many of the same ways as a regular nutritionist or dietitian, yet takes special care to make sure that both the mother and her unborn baby are well cared for. A prenatal nutritionist will most likely see their patients more often than other types of nutritionists, for the period before and during pregnancy and shortly after the birth of the child.
Prenatal nutritionists work closely with other health care professionals including nurses, doctors of obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), mid wives and other public health specialists.
Sports Nutritionist and Dietitian
What Is A Sports Nutritionist?
A sports nutritionist uses many of the same principles of traditional nutritionists and dietitians, yet targets the specific biochemical and physiological needs of the athlete. This specialized type of nutrition focuses on physical performance, muscle building and recovery and optimal choleric and nutritional intake. Sports nutritionists can address issues from weight loss and personal training to physical performance at the highest levels.
Sports nutrition professionals are expected to be able to evaluate, analyze and assess a person’s diet, performance ability and physiological makeup in order to prescribe a diet that will achieve optimal human athletic function. A complete assessment includes testing and analysis in the following areas:
- The ability to recognize an individual body composition
- History of illness, injury or any physical signs of stress
- Anthropomorphic measurements (weight, height, girth) in order to calculate the percentage of body fat or body mass index (BMI)
- Nutritional analysis including lifestyle choices and physical activity
With this information, the nutritionist is able to design a nutritional program to be prescribed to the athlete that improves their performance level and achieves the specific goals of that athlete. A sports nutritionist must also have a full understanding of other health care and sports professionals and must be able to work in a team environment to accomplish both individual and team goals.
What Do Sports Nutritionist Do For Their Clients?
A sports nutritionist first and foremost recommends a nutritional course of action, including the types of foods to eat, the types to avoid, when to eat and how much. Nutrition and diet information will often include nutritional supplements, as well as that of the traditional food groups. Diets are only given after a complete understanding of an athlete’s physiology, lifestyle, body type, metabolism, energy levels, digestive system and any allergies or ailments has been assessed.
Sports nutritionists may treat individuals, groups and even entire teams and organizations. Depending on both the level of the athlete and the specific goals for training, a sports nutritionist may complete some or all of the following tasks:
- Review current nutrition program
- Create strategy for improving performance through nutrition
- Dietary analysis
- Assessment of caloric and nutrient intake and needs
- Update assessments and provide continued analysis
- Analyze vitamin and supplement use if necessary
- Provide information on maintenance of nutritional program
- Interaction with other support people including coaches, trainers, doctors, physical therapists, etc.