A career as a nutritionist will allow you to serve as a credible expert—a guru of good health and nutrition.
Nutritionists are healthcare providers who, besides educating them about the value of healthy food, make diet plans for individuals. Food increases health and well-being and encourages food’s function as a necessary system of preventive health care.
Nowadays, the lifestyle and mindset of people are shifting. On the other hand, the focus of education has moved to the fields of exercise, preventive health care, and diet from finishing and grooming programs such as cooking and catering. The nutritionist’s key task is to cultivate the concept of healthy wellness through proper eating habits. They then plan diet maps, highlight workouts, pick food ingredients, and explain how to develop your metabolism, and so on.
Nutritionists basically instruct individuals about the forms and volume of food consumption actually needed to raise or decrease their body weight. By encouraging a balanced lifestyle, nutritionists aim to help improve the quality of life of their patients and support their patients’ general wellbeing.
Most nutritionists are self-employed in private practice, while those in hospitals, nursing homes, or clinics contribute to a wider staff. Nutritionists can counsel patients in these settings, create food strategies based on the health needs of a patient, measure the cost, and can encourage healthy nutrition. Nutritionists have a tremendous chance to transform the way you think of nutrition and food and potentially improve people’s quality of life.
Nutritionist – Eligibility
Students must choose the science stream in Class 12 in order to become a nutritionist. Usually, for undergraduate and postgraduate level courses in nutrition, there would be no entrance examination. In this sector, there are many courses offered in India by recognized institutions/universities. In addition to earning a degree in the area of nutrition, from time to time, students continue to develop their skills. Only by improved expertise in the sector can higher-level employment in the area of nutrition be accomplished.
School: Students must choose Science Stream in Class 12 with Biology as one of the key subjects of study in order to take a Bachelor’s course in Nutrition.
Undergraduate Level: From B.Sc. Applicants in Food Science, Home Science, and Nutrition should have passed the Class 12 Science Stream exam from a recognized university/board.
Postgraduate Level: Concerning M.Sc. in Food and Nutrition with specialization in clinical nutrition, public health nutrition, or food science, applicants must have a bachelor’s degree in science stream from a recognized university/institution. If you choose to specialize in Food and Nutrition, so the topics include biochemistry, food microbiology, food safety, food science and quality management, advanced human nutrition, physiology, and concepts of food science.
PG Diploma: An choice to become a nutritionist is also a one-year post-graduate diploma in Dietetics and Public Health Nutrition.
Job Roles as Nutritionists
There are a number of career profiles available in this sector after obtaining the requisite educational credentials and skills to become a nutritionist, which you can target depending on your interest. Any of the career profiles available in the area of nutrition include the following:
1. Clinical Nutritionist
They perform in medical environments, such as physicians’ offices, clinics, and hospitals. These nutritionists are in charge of delivering medical nutrition therapy, particularly by tailoring the diet, the medical approach used to treat diseases.
2. Sports Nutritionist
They typically collaborate with athletes and coaches to ensure top athletic results. Besides this, they establish a nutrition schedule according to each athlete’s nutritional needs. They also consult with physical therapists to avoid injury and support athletes to recover.
3. Food Service Nutritionist
In school cafeterias, restaurants, and other large-scale food facilities, they typically operate. To ensure that kitchen workers and supervisors are in accordance with regulatory requirements, they do regular audits and inspections. Special nutritional concerns on food allergies are also recommended by Food Service Nutritionists.
4. Pediatric Nutritionist
The work of pediatric nutrition specialists revolves around children’s wellbeing, obesity, or diabetes, with and without special needs. They also suggest safe food and basic nutrition for children or parents.
5. Public Health Nutritionist
It is the duty of a public health nutritionist to clarify critical food problems to persons in populations at risk. They also determine patients’ wellbeing and food criteria. They also create productive diet strategies, allowing for the expense and cultural expectations.
6. Consultant Nutritionist
The Consultant Nutritionist analyses the current eating habits and welfare priorities of a customer, such as weight loss, management of an illness, or avoidance of potential health complications.
Employment Opportunities
Nutritionists will have wonderful work prospects and make progress with their professions. Regardless of the environment, a nutritionist’s task is to support balanced food and a proper diet. For prospective nutritionists, there is a lot of opportunities, it is obvious from the fact that a vast number of young people are taking up a nutritionist career. Nutritionists may find lucrative placements in corporate hospitals with immense incomes, aside from attending a private or government hospital.
Some of the organizations where a nutritionist can take up jobs are:
- Hospitals (Government and Private)
- Multinational Corporations (MNCs)
- Research and Advocacy
- Schools
- Private Clinics
- Nursing Homes
- Community Health Programmes
- Home Health Care Agencies
- Wellness Centers
- Fitness Clubs (Gyms and Aerobic centers)
- Health Product Companies (Pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, and FMCGs)
- Diabetic Clinics
- Wellness Startups
- Government agencies working for social welfare and development, public health departments
- International food organizations such as United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, US AID, and other non-profit organizations
Salary of a Nutritionist
According to their expertise, skills, and experience, a nutritionist’s pay can vary. Typically, with information development and time, it increases or decreases. For highly trained and professional nutritionists and clinicians, most companies/organizations pay higher. A satisfactory wage is received by nutritionists in various sectors.
The salary starts from around 1.5 lakhs per anum for a starter. It rises to 3-6 lakhs per anum as per the experience and level. The salary of a pediatric nutritionist is even more. The starting salary ranges from 4-4.5 lakhs whereas ten lakhs to 35 lakhs as your experience and expertise increase.
Benefits of Becoming a Nutritionist
1. You Don’t Require a Degree
You don’t really need a degree to start a career as a nutritionist, considering what you may have believed or what you may have read while learning how to become a sports nutritionist.
This is something that many people get puzzled about when weighing up the pros and cons of nutritionists first, but luckily for you, we are here to clear it up! Typically, this misunderstanding derives from the fact that you require a degree to become a dietitian, but a dietician and a nutritionist are not the same things.
2. Work With Different People
If you’re looking for a job that helps you to meet a number of different individuals from all walks of life, then a career in nutrition is certainly worth pursuing. When we talk about the pros and cons of being a nutritionist, one positive is that you get to work with lots of different individuals.
You will communicate directly with a variety of clients every day as a nutritionist, which is just one of the reasons that no two working days are ever the same for a nutritionist. You might develop a meal schedule for a professional athlete one day, based on your particular job position, and help someone kick-start their health and wellness journey the next. You’ll also get to work alongside tons of professionals from similar industries with who you can learn and network.
3. Generous Salary
The amount of money you’ll earn is still a significant consideration when you discuss every profession, so it just makes sense to talk about pay when we cover the benefits and drawbacks of becoming a nutritionist.
Luckily, salaries go into the pros of being a nutritionist! Since there is so much space for growth, a nutritionist’s possible salary is absolutely limitless – especially if you want to start your own company!
If you want to take on a public sector or private sector job, with public sector jobs paying a little less, but still not a wage to turn your nose up at, would be the main thing that will impact your earnings!
4. Professional Growth
One of the best things about a career in nutrition is that there are tonnes of opportunities for progression. You’ll know that the main career paths are either public sector or private sector roles if you’ve looked into how to become a nutritionist.
But there are so many opportunities to take your career to the next level from there, either climbing the career ladder in your workplace or taking matters into your own hands and starting your own company.
Huge nutrition, fitness, and supplement companies, for example, all employ experienced nutritionists across the board, from specific roles such as product development to other areas where your expertise, such as sales or marketing, can come in handy.
Shilpa Nijhawan
Shilpa Nijhawan is an Indian dietician & nutritionist based in Delhi. She provides diet consultation to motivate you to attain your goals. She merges the diet plans with your lifestyle and makes the journey quite amazing with delicious and healthy meals. Dieting is not starving but it is about eating the right meal full of nutrients. She has a 100% success rate with her clients and available for online/offline consultations across Delhi NCR.
Visit – dietnuts.in
Conclusion
The field of nutrition provides a lot of scoe in your career. There are really endless possibilities within this industry, and as the health and fitness world continues to grow, there will only be more and more possibilities for you to grab a career as a nutritionist!