A dietician is a person whose expertise is in human nutrition and the regulation of diet. A dietician advices people about their diet in order to lead a healthy lifestyle and to achieve a specific health-related goals.
Who is a dietician?
A registered dietician is a person who meets specific academic and professional requirements, including a bachelor's degree with an accredited nutrition curriculum, an internship at an approved health care facility or any food-service organisation.
A dietician works directly with people to create nutritional programmes to maintain health and to prevent diseases.
Advantages of being a dietician:
- As a dietician, your education revolves around healthy food and balanced diet. So you will benefit personally by improved health.
- The employment opportunities for a dietician is flexible as they are employed in a variety of work environments like hospitals, clinics, public health, private practices and also in educational organisations.
- Most of the them are said to have flexible hours and a choice to work full or part time.
- The compensation for a dietician varies depending on the level of college education and employment situation.
What are the educational requirements to become a dietician?
- Usually a bachelor's degree in dietetics or a related field is required to become a dietician.
- To become a dietican, course subjects such as microbiology, statistics, psychology and biology are mandatory.
- Educational programmes also provide skills with practical experience to prepare students for career after graduation.
- Post graduation degrees are also available for individuals seeking to move into research, public health or more advanced clinical options.
- Students also have distance learning options to pursue their education through online courses or degree programmes that are offered online.
- Some dieticians pursue specialised areas of practice and even become certified in a specialty.
Job roles of a dietician and career scope:
The following are the job roles and the industries where a dietician are hired:
- Clinical dieticians work in hospitals, nursing care facilities and other health care facilities.
- Community dieticians work with wellness programmes, public health organisations, and other health maintenance organisations.
- Food-service dieticians are responsible for large-scale food planning and service.
- Pediatric dieticians provide nutrition and health advice for infants, children and adolescents.
- Research dieticians focus on health services research.
- Administrative dieticians serve as resource people in food and nutrition through business marketing and communications.
- Consultant dieticians are dieticians who work under contract with health care facilities or private practice.
According to reports employment of dieticians is expected to increase 21% faster compared to other occupations. A growing interest in health and nutrition will help boost demand for dieticians and nutritionists.
What is the salary range of these professionals?
Dieticians earn an average yearly compensation of approx. $56,000. In India, the starting salary in this field is around Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000 per month.
Top colleges/universities offering this course in India
- Lady Irwin College, Delhi University
- Institute of Home Economics, New Delhi
- Women's Christian College, Chennai
- Bishop Choolaparambil Memorial College for Women, Kottayam
- SNDT Women's University, Mumbai
Top colleges/universities offering this course abroad
- Eastern Kentucky University
- University of Bridgeport
- Ball State University
- Iowa State University
- University of Maine