What Can I Do with a Bachelor’s in Nutritional Science Degree?

Defin­ing nutri­tion sci­ence means explor­ing the rela­tion­ship between a vast amount of nutri­ents and how they impact growth, health, main­te­nance, and dis­ease when inter­act­ing with a human being or any oth­er liv­ing organism. 

The study of nutri­tion can be traced back to the 6th cen­tu­ry BC. Nutri­tion sci­ence def­i­n­i­tion as we know it begins in the ear­ly 20th cen­tu­ry, which brought about the sci­en­tif­ic study of calo­ries as units of expend­ed ener­gy. The field of Nutri­tion Sci­ence con­tin­ues to evolve. Recent devel­op­ments in the 21st-cen­tu­ry research regard­ing the rela­tion­ship between one’s dietet­ic habits and one’s health have made nutri­tion an impor­tant, rel­e­vant aspect of liv­ing healthy.

Relat­ed:

• Best Nutri­tion­al Sci­ence Degree Programs
• Best Online Nutri­tion­al Sci­ence Degree Programs
• Most Afford­able Nutri­tion­al Sci­ence Degree Programs
• Best Online Nutri­tion­al Sci­ence Cer­tifi­cate Programs

Giv­en the above-not­ed refined nutri­tion sci­ence def­i­n­i­tion, more and more stu­dents are becom­ing inter­est­ed in the nutri­tion field for career oppor­tu­ni­ties. Nutri­tion spe­cial­ists help peo­ple take charge of their well-being, or to become a part of the food prepa­ra­tion por­tion of the nutri­tion field. There are many rea­sons to become a dietit­ian, but stu­dents often have ques­tions regard­ing the edu­ca­tion required to become a Reg­is­tered Dieti­cian or a Nutri­tion­ist:

• How long does it take to become a dietitian?
• Is becom­ing a reg­is­tered dietit­ian worth it?
• Can a stu­dent earn their nutri­tion­al sci­ences degree online?

All of these ques­tions will be answered to line up the rea­sons to become a dietit­ian. First, though, let’s review how being a dietit­ian, pros and cons, add up.

The Pros:

The nutri­tion field expands rou­tine­ly as astound­ing tech­no­log­i­cal tech­niques reveal new, rel­e­vant devel­op­ments. As a result, career oppor­tu­ni­ties and nutri­tion spe­cial­ties amount to reward­ing careers. A nutri­tion degree grad­u­ate has a vari­ety of skills that impact many lives in end­less ways. A Reg­is­tered Dietit­ian may work inde­pen­dent­ly or in clin­i­cal set­tings advis­ing clients as to how their nutri­tion­al intake can boost their health.

The Cons:

How long does it take to become a dietit­ian? It can take quite a while, depend­ing on what kind of degree you choose. A nutri­tion degree, by itself, may lim­it career advance­ment, as knowl­edge gained from the degree is com­pre­hen­sive but some­what lim­it­ed. Pro­fes­sion­al Reg­is­tered Dieti­tians have found that com­bin­ing a nutri­tion degree with anoth­er relat­ed degree is the key to the door of career pos­si­bil­i­ties and growth. Poten­tial degrees that enhance a nutri­tion degree include chem­istry, coun­sel­ing, and even business.

When it comes to being a dietit­ian, pros and cons are pret­ty clear; if you’re inter­est­ed in food and believe in help­ing peo­ple improve their health, the pros far out­weigh the cons. Still ask­ing yourself:

• How long does it take to become a dietitian?
• Is becom­ing a reg­is­tered dietit­ian worth it?

Read on to dis­cov­er the rea­sons to become a dietit­ian. If it is to influ­ence and moti­vate peo­ple to reach for a healthy ver­sion of them­selves, then a Reg­is­tered Dietit­ian career might be the per­fect fit.

Nutrition and Dietetics Education: School/Program Accreditation

Choos­ing to earn a col­lege degree by enrolling in nutri­tion sci­ence cours­es can be a life-impact­ing deci­sion. How does one know if the school they choose will pro­vide an edu­ca­tion that is worth the cost of tuition?

The pur­pose of a uni­ver­si­ty and pro­gram accred­i­ta­tion can be likened to a company’s qual­i­ty assur­ance divi­sion. Acad­e­my of Nutri­tion and Dietet­ics accred­i­ta­tion denotes that a school and/or degree pro­gram meets nation­al edu­ca­tion­al stan­dards as well as elite stan­dards. An ACEND accred­it­ed didac­tic pro­gram in dietet­ics, for instance, sig­ni­fies that a dietet­ics pro­gram teach­es every­thing required for the Reg­is­tered Dietit­ian exam. The same is true of ACEND accred­it­ed online programs.

The process of accred­i­ta­tion for nutri­tion sci­ence cours­es seri­ous­ly stud­ies each school’s pro­grams and cur­ricu­lum to deter­mine if the school and course­work meet pre-deter­mined aca­d­e­m­ic, fac­ul­ty, com­pe­ten­cy, and cred­i­bil­i­ty stan­dards. A gov­ern­ment or a pro­fes­sion­al orga­ni­za­tion grants accred­i­ta­tion to a col­lege or uni­ver­si­ty through their qual­i­fi­ca­tion processes.

Regional Accreditation

There are only sev­en Unit­ed States Depart­ment of Edu­ca­tion (USDE) Region­al Accred­i­ta­tion Agen­cies in the Unit­ed States. And while the USDE does not actu­al­ly accred­it col­leges and uni­ver­si­ties, they are tasked with the respon­si­bil­i­ty of over­see­ing the country’s accred­i­ta­tion process­es con­duct­ed through the sev­en approved agen­cies. As such, region­al accred­i­ta­tion is con­sid­ered the pre­em­i­nent form of accred­i­ta­tion. A Unit­ed States Depart­ment of Edu­ca­tion region­al­ly accred­it­ed school pro­vides each stu­dent with a lev­el of cer­tain­ty should they need to trans­fer cred­its or want to earn a more advanced degree.

Program Accreditation

Spe­cial­ized degree pro­grams, like an under­grad­u­ate or grad­u­ate degree in nutri­tion sci­ence, often opt for spe­cial­ized accred­i­ta­tion as this type of cer­ti­fi­ca­tion speaks to the pro­gram or the degree with a cur­ricu­lum that exceeds even the strictest e gen­er­al accred­i­ta­tion pro­grams. Stu­dents who earn a degree from a spe­cial­ized accred­it­ed pro­gram will find col­leges and uni­ver­si­ties respect the spe­cial­ized accred­it­ed nutri­tion degree earned.

For those seek­ing an ACEND accred­it­ed didac­tic pro­gram in dietet­ics, the Acad­e­my of Nutri­tion and Dietet­ics (AND) pro­vides accred­i­ta­tion to nutri­tion sci­ence-ori­ent­ed pro­grams and degrees. The Acad­e­my of Nutri­tion and Dietet­ics is a trust­ed source of nutri­tion-based col­lege-lev­el cer­tifi­cates and degree pro­grams, includ­ing ACEND accred­it­ed online pro­grams. Addi­tion­al­ly, stu­dents inter­est­ed in a spe­cial­ized accred­i­ta­tion degree pro­gram may also see a cer­ti­fi­ca­tion grant­ed by ACEND Accred­i­ta­tion Stan­dards for Didac­tic Pro­grams in Dietet­ics. The Accred­i­ta­tion Stan­dards for Didac­tic Pro­grams in Dietet­ics delin­eate clear edu­ca­tion­al stan­dards that pre­pares stu­dents to sit for the Com­mis­sion on Dietet­ic Registration’s (CDR) exam.

When near­ing a final deci­sion about where to earn a degree requir­ing nutri­tion sci­ence cours­es, make an informed deci­sion by select­ing a spe­cial­ized accred­it­ed pro­gram with cer­ti­fi­ca­tion grant­ed by the Acad­e­my of Nutri­tion and Dietet­ics, or, for dis­tance learn­ing nutri­tion sci­ence degrees, look for ACEND accred­it­ed online programs.

Types of Nutrition and Dietetics Degrees

Nutri­tion sci­ence degree pro­grams from the best col­leges for nutri­tion usu­al­ly take four years to fin­ish. Stu­dents study­ing for their nutri­tion­ist degree have the oppor­tu­ni­ty to select an area of focus that meets the require­ments of one’s desired career path. Nutri­tion may some­times be a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence or a Bach­e­lor of Arts, but Dietit­ian bach­e­lor’s pro­grams are usu­al­ly BS. The top schools for nutri­tion and dietet­ics will often have more than one spe­cial­iza­tion avail­able, as well.

A nutri­tion­ist degree offers sev­er­al degree pro­gram options for those with a pas­sion for a didac­tic pro­gram in dietet­ics. A bach­e­lor degree in nutri­tion and dietet­ics offered by some of the best uni­ver­si­ties for dietet­ics and nutri­tion offer stu­dents a vari­ety of spe­cial­ties for those seek­ing a degree as a nutri­tion sci­ence major. It’s impor­tant to note that, while a bach­e­lor’s degree usu­al­ly takes 4 years, many schools are now offer­ing 5‑year pro­grams that allow stu­dents to earn a bach­e­lor’s and mas­ter’s in only 5 years.

Some of the basics you’ll learn in nutri­tion cours­es include:

• med­ical nutri­tion therapy
• dis­ease prevention
• life cycle and lifes­pan health
• inte­gra­tive health sciences
• human nutri­tion
• com­mu­ni­ty health promotion
• nutri­tion counseling

Your pro­gram might also include pre­req­ui­sites like micro­bi­ol­o­gy and organ­ic chemistry.

Nutrition Science Major Specialty Programs

Con­sid­er these broad spe­cial­ty cat­e­gories offered by some of the best col­leges for nutrition.

• Food & Busi­ness Nutrition
• Food Ser­vice Administration
• Nutri­tion Degree in Education
• Phys­i­ol­o­gy & Metabolism
• Pub­lic Health Nutri­tion & Policy

Earn­ing a bach­e­lor’s in nutri­tion pro­vides a stu­dent with the option to select from many types of nutri­tion degrees. A nutri­tion­ist degree, a coor­di­nat­ed pro­gram in dietet­ics, and a dietit­ian edu­ca­tion pro­vide the edu­ca­tion­al back­drop, expe­ri­ence, and knowl­edge to find a degree pro­gram offered by one of the best col­leges for nutri­tion. Dietet­ics degree vs nutri­tion degree usu­al­ly depends on the focus the pro­gram takes; if it is not intend­ed for stu­dents to earn the Reg­is­tered Dietit­ian license, a bachelor’s in nutri­tion is more focused on the nutri­tion itself. Fun­da­men­tal course­work for most types of nutri­tion degrees includes:

• Bio­chem­istry
• Biol­o­gy
• Chem­istry
• Com­mu­ni­ty Nutrition
• Diet & Disease
• Food Sci­ence
• Human Anato­my & Physiology
• Pro­fes­sion­al Issues in Nutrition
• Research Meth­ods in Nutrition
• The Prin­ci­ples of Nutrition

This class­work, offered by some of the best uni­ver­si­ties for dietet­ics and nutri­tion, focus­es on the var­ied pro­grams not­ed above required to earn a degree as a nutri­tion sci­ence major. Those who choose from accred­it­ed pro­grams pro­vid­ed by col­leges offer­ing nutri­tion degrees, often choose wise­ly. Obtain­ing a bach­e­lor’s in nutri­tion degree is a pru­dent place to begin for stu­dents who wish to reach for a career as a nutri­tion sci­ence major researcher or educator.

Note that the above-men­tioned pro­grams are just a sam­pling of the avail­able dietit­ian edu­ca­tion offered by the top schools for nutri­tion and dietetics.

How does a didactic program differ from a coordinated program?

This is where a dietet­ics degree vs nutri­tion degree real­ly makes a dif­fer­ence. While a nutri­tion degree is more focused just on nutri­tion, the dietet­ics degree is designed to pre­pare stu­dents for the CDR exam. Stu­dents grad­u­at­ing from a didac­tic pro­gram in dietet­ics or from a coor­di­nat­ed pro­gram in dietet­ics both earn a bach­e­lor’s degree.

In the best uni­ver­si­ties for dietet­ics and nutri­tion, the dif­fer­ence between the didac­tic pro­gram in dietet­ics and the coor­di­nat­ed pro­gram in dietet­ics is that a Didac­tic Pro­gram requires course­work over a four-year peri­od; that does not include a practicum or intern­ship. Upon grad­u­a­tion, stu­dents com­plete a dietet­ic intern­ship that includes super­vi­sion for a min­i­mum of 900 hours. When the intern­ship is com­plete, the bach­e­lor’s in nutri­tion degree hold­er becomes eli­gi­ble to sit for the Reg­is­tra­tion Exam­i­na­tion for Dieti­tians, the nation­al cre­den­tial required to legit­i­mate­ly prac­tice as a Reg­is­tered Dietitian.

In a Coor­di­nat­ed Pro­gram in Dietet­ics, a stu­dent com­pletes the course­work required over the four-year peri­od. A stu­dent com­pletes their super­vised intern­ship of 900 hours dur­ing the four years it takes to com­plete the degree pro­gram. Essen­tial­ly, the course­work and intern­ships are sim­i­lar, the dif­fer­ence is the amount of time required to be eli­gi­ble to sit for the Reg­is­tra­tion Exam­i­na­tion for Dietitians.

Reg­is­tered Dieti­tians can opt to attain a board-cer­ti­fied spe­cial­ty in the areas of pedi­atric nutri­tion, sports nutri­tion, oncol­o­gy nutri­tion, and geri­atrics nutri­tion, among oth­ers. The top schools for nutri­tion and dietet­ics tai­lor their cur­ricu­lum to the exam, mak­ing for a high pass rate.

Remem­ber! Grad­u­at­ing as nutri­tion­ist does auto­mat­i­cal­ly license some­one who has grad­u­at­ed with a nutri­tion­ist degree; how­ev­er, if they have com­plet­ed the clin­i­cal hours, grad­u­ates of a bach­e­lor degree in nutri­tion and dietet­ics pro­gram are eli­gi­ble to sit for the Reg­is­tered Dietit­ian exam.

The Difference Between a Nutritionist and a Dietitian

A Nutri­tion­ist and a Dietit­ian share sim­i­lar career aspi­ra­tions and objec­tives and attend sim­i­lar nutri­tion major col­leges. Both seek to teach fam­i­lies and com­mu­ni­ties how to cre­ate nutri­tion-savvy lives that bring about health­ful liv­ing. Both degree hold­ers are trained in sim­i­lar nutri­tion sci­ence major col­leges that pro­mote researched nutri­tion­al stan­dards. How­ev­er, their edu­ca­tion­al back­ground and cer­ti­fi­ca­tion require­ments differ.

The Acad­e­my of Nutri­tion and Dietet­ics cre­den­tials a dietit­ian as a Reg­is­tered Dietit­ian. This dietit­ian des­ig­na­tion requires a bach­e­lor’s degree through an accred­it­ed pro­gram, the com­ple­tion of a super­vised intern­ship and pass­ing the Reg­is­tra­tion Exam­i­na­tion for Dietitians.

A nutri­tion sci­ence major oper­ates with­out the same reg­u­la­tions as a Dietit­ian. In addi­tion, state laws dif­fer as to the accept­able edu­ca­tion and expe­ri­ence required to define one­self as a nutri­tion­ist. So while a dietit­ian is a nation­al cer­ti­fi­ca­tion, a nutri­tion­ist is usu­al­ly defined by state-lev­el reg­u­la­tions, if at all (some states have no regulation).

The Cen­ter for Nutri­tion Advo­ca­cy man­ages a data­base regard­ing state laws. Check out their web­site for spe­cif­ic infor­ma­tion regard­ing the laws in the state you wish to practice.

Online Nutrition and Dietetics Degree Programs

Aspir­ing pro­fes­sion­al nutri­tion­ists and dieti­tians must be cer­tain of their state’s license require­ments before select­ing from the many nutri­tion­ist online pro­grams. It is coun­ter­pro­duc­tive select­ing a bach­e­lor’s in nutri­tion online degree pro­gram that does not meet licen­sure requirements.

Nutri­tion­ist and Dietit­ian edu­ca­tion has kept pace with the explo­sion of online dis­tance-learn­ing plat­forms. Stu­dents who need flex­i­ble sched­ul­ing and afford­able online cours­es can access some of the best online nutri­tion degree pro­grams across the coun­try. Addi­tion­al­ly, stu­dents have the oppor­tu­ni­ty to select from the fol­low­ing par­tial list of programs.

• Bach­e­lor’s in Nutri­tion online
• Didac­tic Pro­gram in Dietet­ics online
• Dietet­ics Degree online
• Online Holis­tic Nutri­tion degree
• Online Nutri­tion Asso­ciates degree
• Post Bac­calau­re­ate Dietet­ics online
• Reg­is­tered Dietit­ian pro­grams online

Nutri­tion­ist online pro­grams offer stu­dents var­i­ous lev­els of online degrees. An online nutri­tion asso­ci­ate’s degree can be com­plet­ed in about 2+ years for those who want a for­mal intro­duc­tion into the nutri­tion indus­try. Stu­dents can also choose from some of the best online nutri­tion cer­ti­fi­ca­tion pro­grams. A nutri­tion dis­tance learn­ing bach­e­lor’s degree is gen­er­al­ly com­plet­ed in four years, but accel­er­at­ed degrees can cut down the time tremen­dous­ly. Reg­is­tered Dietit­ian pro­grams online offer con­ve­nience and flex­i­bil­i­ty to stu­dents who face time limitations.

From an online holis­tic nutri­tion degree to Reg­is­tered Dietit­ian pro­grams online, stu­dents now have the oppor­tu­ni­ty to study for their degree through a Didac­tic Pro­gram in Dietet­ics Online from some of the best online nutri­tion degree pro­grams across the country.

Online Nutrition Degree Course Requirements

Stu­dents enrolled in a bachelor’s nutri­tion­ist online pro­gram will find that they study gen­er­al core edu­ca­tion class­es dur­ing their fresh­man and sopho­more years. While each school dif­fers slight­ly, the first two years’ course­work includes:

• Arts & Humanities
• Biol­o­gy
• Chem­istry
• For­eign Languages
• Psy­chol­o­gy

among oth­er gen­er­al edu­ca­tion class­es. Dur­ing a student’s junior and senior years, the best online nutri­tion degree pro­grams require the com­ple­tion of:

• Anato­my & Physiology
• Dietary Plan­ning
• Food Sci­ence
• Nutri­tion Therapy
• Nutrition’s Social Aspects

among oth­er core cours­es and electives.

Nutritionist and Dietitian Certifications and Licenses

A Reg­is­tered Dieti­cian and a pro­fes­sion­al with a Nutri­tion­ist Cer­ti­fi­ca­tion are required to fol­low state-spe­cif­ic edu­ca­tion­al man­dates, as well as exam­i­na­tion guide­lines set forth by each state’s rel­e­vant over­sight agency. Guide­lines for a Reg­is­tered Dietit­ian or a Nutri­tion­ist Dietit­ian vary from state to state. Stu­dents should under­stand the state-man­dat­ed require­ments for their state before select­ing a school or an online nutri­tion pro­gram. When a stu­dent under­stands their state’s require­ments, it is easy to envi­sion the com­mit­ment and time required to com­plete their edu­ca­tion­al objective.

As the world faces the grow­ing epi­dem­ic of obe­si­ty (and the seri­ous mal­adies obe­si­ty caus­es), the var­i­ous facets of the med­ical com­mu­ni­ty have a pow­er­ful renewed inter­est in the mechan­ics of healthy eat­ing and healthy lifestyle choic­es. This is where a Nutri­tion­ist Dietit­ian or a pro­fes­sion­al with a Dietet­ics Cer­ti­fi­ca­tion can make a world of dif­fer­ence. One promi­nent exam­ple of a nation­al ini­tia­tive was the Let’s Move pro­gram ini­ti­at­ed by the Oba­ma White House.

How to Become a Registered Dietitian

The Reg­is­tered Dietit­ian (RD) cre­den­tial is earned when a nutri­tion­ist degree hold­er pass­es the nation­al RD exam­i­na­tion — the exam that tests their knowl­edge against the Com­mis­sion on Dietet­ic Registration’s (CDR) cri­te­ria. The Reg­is­tered Dietit­ian (RD) or the Reg­is­tered Dietit­ian Nutri­tion­ist (RDN) licens­es are des­ig­na­tions that are award­ed by the Acad­e­my of Nutri­tion and Dietet­ics. Accord­ing to legal experts, the RDN vari­a­tion is one and the same as the RD des­ig­na­tion. It sim­ply com­mu­ni­cates a more com­pre­hen­sive aware­ness of the nutri­tion­al aspect of what a licensee can offer.

Remem­ber that all RD’s are nutri­tion experts but not all nutri­tion­ists are Reg­is­tered Dieti­tians. Those inter­est­ed in a career in nutri­tion can opt for a Nutri­tion­ist Cer­ti­fi­ca­tion, a Dietet­ics Cer­ti­fi­ca­tion or nutri­tion careers with­out RD.

The Registered Dietitian Exam

The eli­gi­bil­i­ty require­ments for the RD nation­al exam fol­low three pri­ma­ry path­way options. The first eli­gi­bil­i­ty option refers to bach­e­lor’s degree grad­u­ates who have com­plet­ed the Dietet­ic Intern­ship through a region­al­ly accred­it­ed school, and a degree pro­gram accred­it­ed by ACEND — Accred­i­ta­tion Stan­dards for Didac­tic Pro­grams in Dietetics.

The sec­ond eli­gi­bil­i­ty option for the Reg­is­tered Dietit­ian exam­i­na­tion is for those who have grad­u­at­ed from Coor­di­nat­ed Nutri­tion Pro­gram that is ACEND accred­it­ed, and a col­lege or uni­ver­si­ty that has been grant­ed region­al accreditation.

The third eli­gi­bil­i­ty option is open to Didac­tic Pro­gram in Dietet­ics grad­u­ates from a region­al­ly accred­it­ed school, and an ACEND accred­it­ed program.

Addi­tion­al RD exam­i­na­tion options are avail­able for Doc­tor­ate Degree grad­u­ates, Reci­procity of Eli­gi­bil­i­ty, the Cana­di­an RD, and Inter­na­tion­al Dietet­ics graduates.

Careers in Nutrition Sciences

Is nutri­tion and dietet­ics a good career move? Careers in nutri­tion are plen­ti­ful, and the job mar­ket is expand­ing far faster than the aver­age (15% by BLS stats). Bach­e­lor’s in Nutri­tion jobs are avail­able in a vari­ety of clin­i­cal and non-clin­i­cal envi­ron­ments. Careers in nutri­tion, careers in nutri­tion and well­ness, careers in nutri­tion and food sci­ence, or careers in nutri­tion and health offer grad­u­ates var­i­ous career options, capac­i­ties, and set­tings that include:

• Gov­ern­ment agencies
• Hos­pi­tals
• Nurs­ing homes
• Schools

These careers in nutri­tion require pro­fes­sion­als to set meal plans in accor­dance with nutri­tion guide­lines and to track the progress of clients over time. Addi­tion­al­ly, nutri­tion­al sci­ence jobs can be found in clin­ics, gyms, or coun­sel­ing pro­grams. For those who want to work inde­pen­dent­ly, con­sid­er the fol­low­ing careers in nutri­tion and well­ness or careers in nutri­tion and food science:

• dietary con­sul­tant
• pri­vate dietary coach
• weight loss counselor

Careers in Nutrition and Dietetics

The Unit­ed States and the world have final­ly begun to rec­og­nize the dan­gers of poor eat­ing habits and the life­long neg­a­tive impact that poor eat­ing habits cause. Fit­ness and health have become front-and-cen­ter issues. As a result, there is a surge in the demand for those who wish to fol­low a career in nutri­tion and dietetics.

The 21st cen­tu­ry has brought about renewed inter­est in a career in nutri­tion and dietet­ics. Many careers in nutri­tion and health are avail­able in the pub­lic and pri­vate sec­tors as pol­i­cy set­ters and nutri­tion­al plan developers.

These bach­e­lor’s in Nutri­tion jobs include:

• Chief dieti­tians
• Clin­i­cal dietitians
• Nutri­tion Educators
• Phar­ma­ceu­ti­cal Representatives
• Pub­lic health nutritionists

Careers in Nutrition and Health

For grad­u­ates who wish to focus their career on the rela­tion­ship between nutri­tion, health, and exer­cise, con­sid­er these career options in the fol­low­ing situations:

• Advo­ca­cy health­care groups
• Edu­ca­tion communities
• Fit­ness facilities
• Gov­ern­ment
• Health food stores and organizations
• Pub­lic relations
• Research facil­i­ties

Entry-lev­el nutri­tion pro­fes­sion­als with a bach­e­lor of sci­ence in nutri­tion may find them­selves work­ing in the food indus­try, in a nutri­tion edu­ca­tion pro­gram, or oth­er health pro­fes­sions. You may also wish to go on to grad­u­ate study and earn a master’s degree.

Nutrition Science Jobs

Nutri­tion­al sci­ence jobs focus on how nutri­tion func­tions at a mol­e­c­u­lar or cel­lu­lar lev­el. This area of study dove­tails with careers in nutri­tion and health that stud­ies how to pre­vent dis­ease and stress while opti­miz­ing one’s health. bach­e­lor’s in nutri­tion jobs would include the fol­low­ing scenarios:

• Acad­e­mia
• Con­sult­ing
• Food pro­cess­ing
• Gov­ern­men­tal agencies
• Phar­ma­ceu­ti­cal industry
• Pri­vate health-relat­ed communities
• Research and development

Final­ly, it is not­ed that many stu­dents who grad­u­ate with a bach­e­lor’s in nutri­tion fur­ther their stud­ies in the fields of den­tistry, med­i­cine, optom­e­try, and osteopa­thy, among oth­er med­ical­ly-relat­ed fields.

Nutritionist Salary: How Much Does a Nutritionist Make?

How much does a nutri­tion­ist make? A nutri­tion­ist salary varies depend­ing on one’s lev­el of edu­ca­tion and cho­sen spe­cial­ty. One can expect a dietit­ian salary to fall in line with the fed­er­al government’s Bureau of Labor Sta­tis­tics (BLS). Accord­ing to the BLS, a nutri­tion­ist or dietit­ian salary for 2017 hov­ered near the $60,000 mark.

A clin­i­cal dietet­ics salary per hour for 2017 was $28.56. Addi­tion­al­ly, one can expect for the most part sim­i­lar com­pen­sa­tion for a nutri­tion sci­ence salary (a career that over­laps fre­quent­ly with clin­i­cal dietet­ics) and oth­er lev­els of nutri­tion sci­ence degree salary expectations.

The pro­ject­ed growth for the nutri­tion indus­try is antic­i­pat­ed to exceed the aver­age growth of all occu­pa­tions for the time peri­od of 2016 — 2026. As a result, a bach­e­lor’s in nutri­tion salary should rise strict­ly based on a grow­ing demand. This should also hap­pen for a dietet­ics degree salary, a clin­i­cal dietet­ics salary, a nutri­tion sci­ence salary, or a nutri­tion­ist salary.

Many nutri­tion­al pro­gram grad­u­ates are self-employed. The BLS notes that about eleven per­cent of nutri­tion­al degree grad­u­ates oper­ate as self-employed con­sul­tants with year­ly com­pen­sa­tion that match­es a clin­i­cal dietet­ics salary, a nutri­tion careers salary, or a nutri­tion sci­ence degree salary.

So how much does a nutri­tion­ist make? It varies depend­ing on one’s edu­ca­tion and spe­cial­iza­tion. Work­ing for the gov­ern­ment of a non­prof­it may have its lim­its, but inde­pen­dent con­sult­ing, per­son­al clients, and oth­er more entre­pre­neur­ial efforts may mean pay­days much high­er than the aver­age nutri­tion­ist salary or dietit­ian salary. So go ahead — head to Hol­ly­wood, hang out at Whole Foods, and find a star who needs nutri­tion­al advice.

Professional Organizations in Nutrition and Dietetics

The nutri­tion indus­try is reg­u­lat­ed by sev­er­al accred­it­ed agen­cies that pro­vide licens­ing cri­te­ria and over­sight, and con­tin­u­ing edu­ca­tion cours­es to main­tain one’s Reg­is­tered Dietit­ian license. For stu­dents who are new to the fol­low­ing orga­ni­za­tions, it is not­ed that mem­ber­ship in one of these pro­fes­sion­al nutri­tion orga­ni­za­tions is a great tech­nique for under­stand­ing the cur­rent job mar­ket an effec­tive way to net­work with col­leagues from across the country.

These pro­fes­sion­al orga­ni­za­tions include:

• The Acad­e­my of Nutri­tion and Dietetics
• The Amer­i­can Jour­nal of Clin­i­cal Nutrition
• The Amer­i­can Soci­ety for Nutrition
• The Amer­i­can Col­lege of Nutrition
• The Cen­ter for Nutri­tion Pol­i­cy and Promotion
• The Soci­ety for Nutri­tion Edu­ca­tion and Behavior

The Acad­e­my of Nutri­tion and Dietet­ics is con­sid­ered the largest food and nutri­tion­al orga­ni­za­tion in the world. It was estab­lished in 1917 by a ded­i­cat­ed group of women dur­ing World War One. Today the Acad­e­my of Nutri­tion and Dietet­ics mem­ber­ship exceeds 100,000.

The Amer­i­can Jour­nal of Clin­i­cal Nutri­tion (AJCN) is the most high­ly regard­ed peer-reviewed publication.

The Amer­i­can Soci­ety for Nutri­tion focus­es on nutri­tion­al research and offers pro­fes­sion­al archived research stud­ies to enhance the industry.

The Amer­i­can Col­lege of Nutri­tion encour­ages the advance­ment of nutri­tion­al science.

The Soci­ety for Nutri­tion Edu­ca­tion and Behavior(SNEB) is an orga­ni­za­tion ded­i­cat­ed to nutri­tion­al edu­ca­tors across the globe.

The Cen­ter for Nutri­tion Pol­i­cy and Pro­mo­tion (CNPP)is an agency with­in the U.S. Depart­ment of Agri­cul­ture. Its mis­sion is to set forth healthy guide­lines to help the pop­u­la­tion main­tain a healthy lifestyle.