What Does a Dietitian do?

A dietitian applies the scientific principles of nutrition to the preparation of different kinds of food for people enjoying good health and for those suffering from disease. Cookery is only a small part of dietetics. In a hospital dietitians are responsible for providing therapeutic diets to patients, especially for those for whom the diet is also a special part of the treatment. They plan menus and devise special recipes when necessary. They keep in touch with the patients, observing their progress and explaining their diets to them. Dietitians may also be put in charge of all the food services in a hospital as dietitian-catering officers.

In the processed food industry a dietitian works on the development and improvement of food products and production methods, such as new ways of preserving foods. In this sphere dietitians work with food chemists and food technologists experimenting in food laboratories on flavor and dietetic problems.
Dietitians may be in charge of catering in organizations of different types such as residential schools, offices and so on. They could also be in charge of staff, planning well-balanced meals and supervising their production.

Health foods being the current craze, dietitians can work on different varieties of daily meals, snacks that, while being tasty, would also be nutritious. They can set up their own health food store or run catering services. The top hotels also prefer to employ a dietitian to plan out menus for different types of guests and also to supervise the food production process.

Dietitians can also opt for teaching in different types of educational institutions - colleges, polytechnics, or universities.

Dieticians or nutritionists help to promote good health through corrective eating habits, thus improving the quality of life. They assist people in planning meals depending upon their age, sickness or work routine, counsel and educate them about healthy eating- selection and preparation of food items according to the principles of nutrition and evaluate and make changes in their clients diet periodically.

Dietitians promote nutritious eating habits through education and research, as well as through overseeing the selection and preparation of food services for many different institutions and groups. They fix nutritional regimens for patients in a hospital, athletes in physical training camps, and mountaineers on an expedition and so on. They do research on nutritive value of food which helps 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. They study the digestive process, the various reactions of food stuffs in the body and find out what is harmful and thus help to prevent diseases through a proper diet program. Some of them specialize in areas such as obesity, pediatrics or diabetes. They form a vital part of the health team.

Organizations involved in food product manufacture use the services of the nutritionist or dietician to plan and research new products. The nutritionists also has excellent prospects in the mass media where top of priority is given to disseminating vital information on healthy living .They could find employment in hospitals, research labs of food manufacturers, catering departments of star hotels, health departments and recreation clubs, teach the science of nutrition and dietetics in colleges and universities. They can also work as consultants or do private practice.

Personality Traits:

Interest in sound diet; an aptitude for science; organizing ability; ability to work well in a team; patience; sense of responsibility; understanding of people of all ages, backgrounds, temperaments and tastes; basic idea of the diet pattern prevailing in different parts of the country among a cross-section of society; and the ability to express oneself lucidly.

Course/ Training:

With a few exceptions, dietetics is studied only after a graduate degree in anyone of the following disciplines: home science, medicine, science (with chemistry, microbiology), hotel management and catering.

Dietetics is taught as a postgraduate diploma course in some institutes/universities such as:

SNDT Women's University, Mumbai.
Nirmala Niketan, Mumbai.
All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health (under Calcutta University), Kolkata.
Institute of Home Economics, Delhi.
Sophia College, B.K. Somani Polytechnic, Mumbai.
Institute of Hotel Management, Catering and Applied Nutrition, Mumbai.

Dietetics is also taken up as a specialization at the Master's level in home science at the major universities in the country.

There are many universities such as those of Delhi, Mumbai, and Madras, offer nutrition/health and nutrition as subjects at the graduate level too.

Subjects taught in this discipline include chemistry, physics, nutrition and physiology.

Placements/ Prospects :

Dietitians find jobs in hotels, hospitals, in the processed food industry, and in teaching. The prospects are good in all the fields except in teaching where openings are comparatively restricted.

The most lucrative prospects are in the field of private enterprise keeping in view the present trend for health food. Residential schools, railways, and airlines also employ dietitians to run and/or supervise their catering services and look after their nutritional needs.

There are many openings for the trained dietitian today and the future looks even brighter.