How to Become a Nutritionist, Plus Career Path Options

Exercise is one piece of the wellness puzzle. Healthy eating is another. Want to help people achieve a higher level of health through nutrition? Here’s how to become a nutritionist.

You will learn what a nutritionist does and where they work in the paragraphs ahead. We’ll also provide the median salary for this role and the job outlook.

Not sure what the difference is between a nutritionist and a registered dietitian? This is important to choose the right career for you, so we’ll talk about that too.

Next, we discuss how to become a nutritionist. This may require earning your certification. So, we’ll also provide a few of your nutrition certification options.

What Does a Nutritionist Do?

A nutritionist helps promote health and wellness through diet. Other names for a nutritionist include nutrition specialist or nutrition coach.

Typical job duties of a nutritionist include:

• Providing nutrition advice

• Creating a meal plan that helps clients reach their health and fitness goals

• Devising a balanced eating program based on a client’s health conditions

• Offering tips for creating healthy eating habits

• Giving healthy food preparation and cooking advice

Where Do Nutritionists Work?

A nutritionist (or nutrition coach) can provide nutrition support to clients one-on-one or for entire groups. They help clients build better eating habits that support their health and nutrition goals.

Providing individual services is sometimes referred to as clinical nutrition. You can do this on your own or through a health-based practice. If you work in healthcare, you may provide medical nutrition therapy. This could involve creating meal plans for people with diabetes, for instance. Or you may provide menus for people with digestive issues.

A nutritionist can also work within the food service industry. In this role, you would create food menus for entire groups, such as for long-term care facilities like nursing homes and assisted living.

Nutritionist Salary and Job Outlook

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the median pay for a nutritionist in the U.S. is $61,650 per year ($29.64 per hour).

Outpatient care centers tend to pay the most. The median pay in these facilities is $74,640. The next highest payers for nutritionists are:

• Governmental agencies ($61,830)

• Hospitals ($61,820)

• Nursing care facilities ($60,840).

The BLS expects jobs in this field to grow 11% between 2020 and 2030. This rate is faster than average. And it would equate to 5,900 new positions over the next several years.

Nutritionist vs. Registered Dietitian

A nutritionist and dietitian may seem similar. And they are to a certain degree. Both provide nutritional guidance. But they are also quite different. Here’s how.

Regulatory Differences

One of the main differences is regulation. This refers to licensing, registration, and certification.

A nutritionist may not need registration to provide nutrition services. Conversely, most dietitians are registered. They get the registered dietitian credential through the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. It certifies that they have met certain requirements. Once they do, they can use the title of registered dietitian.

Another option is to become a registered dietitian nutritionist or RDN. A registered dietitian nutritionist provides nutrition therapy to people with health conditions. For examples, you might work with people with diabetes.

Educational Differences

There are also educational differences between a nutritionist and a dietitian. A nutritionist or nutrition coach may be required to complete a certification program. This certification can often be completed within a few months.

Registered dietitians must typically have a bachelor’s degree or they must have completed a dietetics training program. A bachelor’s degree is typically a four-year program. These programs teach about basic human nutrition. They also cover food service system management and food science.

Training Differences

There may be differences in training as well. For instance, a registered dietitian nutritionist must have 1,200 hours of supervised practice, for instance. This must be through an accredited program. Keeping this in mind can help you choose the best career for you.

In short, it often requires less education to begin work as a nutritionist. That may make this career path preferable to someone who wants minimal schooling. It can also lead to faster entry into this field.

Nutritionist Career Path Options

There is one major similarity between nutritionist and dietitian. That is, other than providing dietary advice. This is the ability to follow similar career paths. Career options for both roles include:

• Clinical dietitians and nutritionists. These professionals work with individual clients or patients. Some do this via private practice, such as an online nutrition coach. Others work for hospitals, clinics, and long-term care facilities.

• Community dietitians and nutritionists. These individuals provide food-based advice for groups. An example would be creating a meal plan for a senior living facility. It might also involve providing nutrition advice to the community at large. This type of dietitian can work for healthcare agencies, the government, and non-profits.

More commonly, nutrition coaches work in gyms and other health and fitness-related spaces, such as yoga studios or health clubs. Nutritionists and nutrition coaches also often have an online coaching business. Working as a nutritionist pairs well with a job as a personal trainer and other fitness professional roles.

How to Become a Nutritionist: 5 Simple Steps

If you’re interested in working as a nutritionist, here’s how to become one:

• Step 1: Get your education. Nutrition education is often required to provide nutritional services. This may be via a certification or degree program. Both teach about the different nutrients and how much the body needs of each. You also learn how to create a meal plan based on certain dietary needs.

• Step 2: Obtain the necessary training. Some nutritionists engage in supervised training. One way to get this training is with an internship. A few training programs offer an internship as an option. In others, the internship is part of the certification program.

• Step 3: Pursue licensing, if needed. The BLS reports that many states mandate that a nutritionist be licensed. The American Academy of Dietetics provides an interactive map. This can help you identify your state’s requirements. It also tells you which agency you have to contact to apply for a license.

• Step 4: Pursue certification, or registration if needed. Some states also require that you be certified or registered to work as a nutritionist. Check with your state’s regulatory agency to know for sure. (The American Academy of Dietetics’ interactive map includes this information as well.) Again, this tells you the requirements for your state.

• Step 5: Take continuing education courses. Once you’re a nutritionist, your education doesn't stop there. Continuing education classes are needed to keep providing nutrition advice. These classes also help you stay current with nutrition research. This ensures that you provide guidance based on the most up-to-date information.

Nutrition Certification Options

A nutrition certification verifies that you know how to create a healthy diet. It says that you have the skills needed to provide nutrition services. It may even allow you to specialize in a certain area of nutrition.

Certification options to consider include:

• Clinical nutrition. A clinical nutritionist (or clinical dietitian) provides nutrition advice to individuals. It teaches you how to work one-on-one with clients. This includes taking into consideration their physical needs. It also teaches you how to modify diet to get better results.

• Holistic nutrition. A holistic nutritionist focuses on the client as a whole. This includes looking at what they eat. But it also involves assessing where they eat and how they eat. This certification takes into account the whole eating experience. This is important because all of these factors affect your relationship with food.

• Sports nutrition. With this certification, you can offer nutrition counseling to athletes. Sports nutrition involves improving performance through food. It may also require providing supplement guidance. Athletes need a diet that supports their highly active schedule. They also need certain nutrients to ensure proper recovery.

Ready to Get Started?

Ready to take the next step? ISSA offers Nutritionist Certification. This online course covers nutrition science basics. It also teaches various ways to help clients meet their dietary guidelines. You learn about portion control, supplements, and diet-based motivators.

Resources

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Dietitians and Nutritionists, at https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/dietitians-and-nutritionists.htm (visited April 19, 2022).

Commission on Dietetic Registration. Cdrnet.org. Retrieved 13 May 2022, from https://www.cdrnet.org/.

Dietetics Licensure Statutes and Information by State. Eatrightpro.org. (2022). Retrieved 13 May 2022, from https://www.eatrightpro.org/advocacy/licensure/licensure-map.