What does a nutritionist do?

Trifocus Fitness Academy - nutritionist
Nutrition Blog

Nutritionists are in high demand as more people are seeking to get healthy. They are experts in the field of food and nutrition.

Nutritionists provide personalized information for different individuals. They specifically focus on how various foods impact people in different ways. They develop meal plans and advise people on what to eat so they can lead a healthy lifestyle. They also help clients and patients reach specific health-related goals and promote better nutrition. For instance, they would recommend that a high blood pressure patient use less salt when making meals. They would also plan a diet with less sugar and processed food for people who are overweight and trying to lose weight. In a nursing home, they would most likely advise senior citizens on their food choices based on the health conditions and a nutritionist at a school would develop meal plans for the cafeteria and oversee the kitchen.

Things nutritionists typically do includes assessing the clients’ diet and health needs, explaining nutrition and how it can aid the client and developing meal plans while considering the cost, clients preferences and dietary restrictions. They implement meal plans in schools or certain facilities as well as talk to groups, clients and patients about nutrition principles, food selection, diet, and the relationship between good eating habits and managing and preventing certain diseases. Keeping up with the latest nutritional science research is also part of their job. They promote school nutrition standards, public policy issues and nutrition labs.

There is an opportunity for them to develop the way we think about nutrition and food so it can improve people’s quality of life.

A few places nutritionists work in hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, schools and cafeterias. Some nutritionists have their own practice and are self-employed and some even work with athletes and help them create a meal plan.

Types of nutritionists

There are different specialities within the nutritionist occupation. Nutritionists have many choices on where they want to take their career path.

Clinical dieticians 

Clinical dietitians supply medical nutrition therapy. They create individualized and group nutritional programs based on patients or residents health needs. They can further specialize such as to only work with patients who have kidney diseases. Working with other health care professionals is also an option. They work in hospitals, long-term care facilities, and other institutions.

Management dieticians

Management dieticians plan meal programs. They may be in charge of buying food and carrying out other business-related tasks such as overseeing kitchen staff or others in the same field. They commonly work in the foodservice sector and can be found at schools, cafeterias, food corporations and hospitals.

Community dieticians

Community dieticians educate and inform the public about topics relating to food and nutrition. They regularly work with definite groups of people, such as pregnant women. They work in health maintenance organizations, public health clinics, government and non-profit agencies.

Not all nutritionists work in the same field, the role heavily depends on where you work.

Contact Trifocus Fitness Academy

If you want to learn more about nutrition, and possibly even become a nutritionist yourself, you need to seriously consider doing a specialised nutrition course such as the one we offer. For more information, please follow this link.

Trifocus Fitness Academy- Nutrition