The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics defines Nutrition Counseling as, “a supportive process to set priorities, establish goals, and create individualized action plans, which acknowledge and foster responsibility for self care.”
Nutrition counseling is a growing field with a lot of potential for helping people improve their health and wellness. It is the process of working with a nutrition expert to find an individualized way to make changes in your lifestyle, eating habits, and health. Seeking nutrition counseling can expand much further than weight loss goals and eating healthier. Depending on the individual's personal goals and interests, nutrition counseling can also focus on improving various medical conditions, recent medical procedures, eating disorders, substance abuse rehabilitation, and much more.
While there isn't one single route into the field of nutrition counseling, most professionals have spent years studying the subject before entering practice. You can think of nutrition counseling as a huge umbrella that encapsulates several areas to which anyone can seek help from a nutrition expert such as a Nutrition Counselor or a Registered Dietitian.
What is the difference between a Nutrition Counselor and Registered Dietitian?
Nutrition professionals work with individuals, families, and organizations to provide essential nutrition support which makes life-changing changes possible. As with any career, there is not one path into the field of nutrition counseling. But it's important to remember that there are many entry-level positions within this field that don't require a degree, but do require specific training and certifications.
Both nutrition professionals can work in various backgrounds in food science and culinary arts, as well as dietetics, counseling, public health, psychology, and other fields. A background in food science or culinary arts can help you understand how different ingredients interact with one another, while dietetics can give you an understanding of how different foods affect the body. Public health and psychology provide an understanding of how behavior affects overall health, which is useful for counseling clients on lifestyle changes such as quitting smoking or losing weight.
Nutrition counselors are nutrition experts, who can help you meet your health goals by creating sustainable changes that will lead to improved health outcomes. They have specialized in working with people just like you who are looking for nutrition guidance, to provide them with basic nutrition education, patient-focused communication, and confidence needed to help meet those health and wellness goals you may have. Nutrition counselors are not required to have a degree in higher education, such as a Bachelor's or Master's degree, but can complete other training and certifications that make them best equipped to work in the setting of their choosing.
A Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, or ‘RD/RDN’ for short, is a certified nutrition specialist who have undergone several years studying at prestigious levels of higher education requirements to specialize in Dietetics; in addition to completing rigorous, time-heavy training and medical rotations that is a minimum of 1,000 hours of supervised experience at an accredited healthcare facility, community agency, or foodservice corporation, and has succeeded in passing the National Exam to become registered to practice at a higher level within the field of Nutrition, in addition to being licensed to practice in their state of practice. An RD has at least a bachelor's degree in nutrition and has completed an internship year of supervised practice. However, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is requiring dietitians to also receive a Master's Degree in order to be eligible to take the National Exam, starting January 2024. To maintain their credentials, RD's must complete continuing education courses every five years on current research and best practices in the field. Beyond offering nutrition advice, RD's and RDNs provide Medical Nutrition Therapy to their clients and patient populations. Medical Nutrition Therapy , often abbreviated as MNT, is an evidence-based medical approach to treating certain chronic conditions through the use of an individually-tailored nutrition plan.
A Registered Dietitian Nutritionist can work in a variety of environments including hospitals, nursing homes, long term care facilities, and private health care practices as clinical nutritionists. As well as in community settings such as local centers that provide nutrition support like local community centers or WIC. Some even work with clients virtually, over the phone or remotely through video conferencing.
Some RD's hold additional certifications in specialized areas of practice. These are awarded through CDR, the credentialing agency for the Academy, and/or other medical and nutrition organizations and are recognized within the profession, but are not required. Some of the certifications include pediatric or renal nutrition, sports dietetics, diabetes education, and foodservice corporation.
The variety of backgrounds that both nutrition counselors and Registered Dietitian Nutritionists have makes them well-equipped to work with people from all walks of life. The population of people that a dietitian or nutritionist can work with can span over all stages of life; from working with infants and children in Pediatrics to working with older adults in Geriatrics. They are qualified to work with individuals, families, groups and organizations; and are trained in the science of human nutrition and have the skills needed to provide education on how to make changes in lifestyle habits so that they support good health behaviors.
What does Nutrition Counseling look like?
A nutrition counseling session may include any or all of the following:
Building a relationship between client and nutrition professional
Client driven sessions to prioritize what is important to the client and work towards achieving client set-goals
Using helpful tools such as goal sheets or questionnaires to help identify client's individual goals for improving their own diet and overall health
Reviewing current eating habits, food choices, and provide healthier suggestions and tools to help client implement action-oriented goals into their lifestyle
Talking through barriers related to changing eating habits (and other lifestyle factors) - such as stressors at home or school; lack of time; cultural influences; social situations where alcohol consumption becomes a habit among teens.. The list is ENDLESS!
Nutrition counseling can involve one-on-one sessions with a registered dietitian or nutritionist, or group classes at a hospital, school or community center. Through supportive, counseling processes, a Nutritionist or Dietitian can help us understand how diet affects your overall health. They can also help us plan healthy meals that meet your daily nutrition needs and lifestyle. Dietitians and nutritionists can also show that with a focus on healthful ingredients that offer nutrition and dietary variety, these recipes can help reveal how easy it can be to prepare and serve healthful foods for any meal occasion.
It's important to understand that nutrition counseling is not a quick fix. The goal is to make gradual, realistic dietary changes you can maintain over the long term. Successful nutrition counseling is achieved by setting goals, measuring results, and adjusting your plan as you learn more about your body and how it reacts to certain foods. The key to good nutrition counseling, as with any health intervention, depends on the relationship between the counselor and their client.
Your Nutritionist or dietitian may ask about food allergies or sensitivities, digestive issues, or health conditions that are affected by the way you eat. They may request a list of medications or supplements you're taking. They will also want to know about your physical activity level, current eating habits, and where you struggle the most. Dietitians and nutritionists must evaluate the health status of clients and determine appropriate food choices to improve overall health or manage disease. Dietitians and nutritionists help prevent or support treatment of health conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure, autoimmune disease, eating disorders, obesity, and much more.
Diabetes management is a common reason that individuals seek out nutritionists and dietitians. Nutrition professionals can provide individuals with diabetes education that will allow them to become more knowledgeable on how foods and beverages highly affect blood glucose levels. With this knowledge and with the use of other resources or tools a nutrition professional can provide, can grant individuals with more control when living with Diabetes. Allowing them to feel more confident when grocery shopping, preparing meals, and eating out with others; so that they can enjoy the things they love to do without guilt or negative effects.
Conclusion
To summarize, nutrition counseling is the use of professional advice and education to help clients achieve a healthy lifestyle through food and nutrition guidance and support. This is accomplished by working with clients one-on-one or in small groups to best identify their needs and goals, creating a plan to make them happen, and tracking progress over time.
Our team at Reframe Nutrition offers Nutrition Counseling services with Licensed, Registered Dietitians who are fully equipped to assist you with your personal health goals. As Registered Dietitians and Nutrition Counselors, our goal is to help you reach your health goals. We will work with you to create an individualized wellness plan that fits into your lifestyle and maximizes the benefits of eating well. Our sessions are designed to be interactive and collaborative--we'll work together to figure out what works best for you!
Comments