Nutrition and Dietetics is a vital, growing field
and the opportunities and possibilities in this field are endless. Nutritionists
and dieticians could find employment in hospitals, health and recreation
clubs, canteens,nursing care facilities,teach the science of nutrition and dietetics
in colleges and universities, catering departments of star hotels, research
labs of food manufacturers, in health departments of government etc. They can
also work as consultants or do private practice. Moreover they could find openings
in the mass media where top priority is given to disseminating vital information
on healthy living
The main fields in which a dietician or nutritionists can work is in Food
service field, Institutional Catering, Health Care field, Research & Development
and Social Welfare. Food service field include food Catering service,
Restaurants etc where professionals can do menu planning, monitoring the food
preparation etc. Institutional Catering is another field where Nutrition and
dietetics professionals are needed to plan, supervise and prepare nutritious
and well-balanced meals for schools, colleges, factories or office cafeterias
etc. Their work may also include the estimation and purchase of food supplies
and equipment; receiving, checking and taking inventories of provisions etc.
Those who are involved in such work are called Administrative or Management
dietitian or Nutritionists.
In Health Care field,people suffering from certain diseases such as diabetics,
heart diseases, obesity etc, need to take extra care of their eating habits
and the kind of food they eat. Depending on the nutrition needs of the patients,
dieticians prepare their diet charts and monitor the results of dietary therapy
and maintain records. Professionals working in this field are called Clinical/
Therapeutic dietitian or Nutritionists.
Research and Development involves conducting
research on various food items to ensure their quality as well as
studying the effects of various types of diet on the body chemistry in
labs. The research dietician or nutritionists do research on nutritive
value of food which help to understand the various components of food
we eat and the right type of food which provides a balanced mix of the
essentials like vitamins, minerals etc needed for the human body. Organizations involved in food product
manufacture use the services of the nutritionist or dietician to plan and
research new products as well as to
check the nutritional quality of their products. Research careers occur mainly in
universities, specialist institutions, food product manufacturing companies and hospitals.
Nutrition and dietetics professionals
also work for Social
Welfare,they work in organizations mainly public health
departments run by government, which helps in
improving the eating habits and consequently, the health of the public.
Public Health / Community dietitian.
