Knowledge about food is what the world desperately needs today, thanks to problems like Obesity, Hypertension, PCOD…, Greta time to Nutritionists, bad time for humanity. And that is why we have nutritionists, who improve the health of millions of people by just changing their food habits, because after all, Health is Wealth, and if you are a Nutritionist, you can ern both, if you are good at it.
We are going to understand, 1.who is a Nutritionist and how is it different for being a Dietician? 2. Educational Qualifications you need to have to become a Nutritionist. 3. Collage details and their fee structure. 4. Salary that you can expect after you become a Nutritionist. 5. But most importantly towards the end, I’ll write you a tip which is the quickest way to learn about Nutritionist even when you don’t have a science background.
1.NUTRITIONST VS DIETICAIN. Nutritionists are like Counsellors. They educate people about the quantity of food, type of food, so that they eat better, specifically to increase or decrease their body weight. Dietitians on the other hand, take care of patients with medical conditions, like diabetes, food allergies, cancer, patients recovering from a any accident, about what food and supplements to take to recover faster. Think a Dieticians as one level above Nutritionists, because to become a Dietician, you need to get a Registered Dietician License form the IDA, the Indian Dietetic Association.
2.EDUCATION First, you need to pass 10+2 with Biology, Physics and Chemistry your subjects. After that, you need to get you bachelor’s in nutrition which is a 3-year long course where you focus on Basics of Nutrition, Human Physiology, Health, Weight-Loss Strategies etc…, now after you Bachelors, you can do 2 things…1. Get your master’s degree i.e., M.Sc. in Food Science, Nutrition & Dietetics or you can do P.G Diploma in Nutrition, where you can specialise in Sports Nutrition, Public Health, Paediatric Nutrition etc. and the end of your Post-Graduation or P.G Diploma, you will be called a Nutritionist. If you want to take it to next level and become a Dietician, then you need to intern for 6-months and write the Registered Dietician Exam.
3.COLLEGE & FEE STRUCTURE You can apply to colleges like, National Institute of Nutrition (Hyd), SNDT Women’s University (Mumbai), JD Birla Institute of Home Science (Kolkata), Lady Irwin College (New Delhi), University of Madras, University of Mysore etc. Entry in these college can be based on merit, or some of these colleges might have their own entrance exams. So make sure you keep checking their websites to know their exam dates. The fee structure, B.SC in Nutrition can cost somewhere between 50k to 2.50 Lakhs INR per year. And M.Sc. in Nutrition can cost between 20 K to 4 Lakhs INR per year. It all depends on the college that you get into.
4.SALARY & CAREER
As a Nutritionist or a Dietitian, you can work in both Government sector of private sector. You can work in R&D, Health Care, Teaching & Education Sector, Food products manufacturing, Pharmaceutical Firms, and of course…Fitness centres. You can even be self-employed by staring your own consultancy. Your salary can be range anywhere between 10K – 50K INR per month, or more, depending on your qualification and your company.
Now, suppose you don’t have a science background, but want to learn about Nutrition. In that case, your option are;
1. IGNOU certification courses like CFN, CNCC which are distance-learning programs.
2. Nutrition certification from ACE, ISSA, Precision Nutrition etc. go to their website, read about them and see if what you want to do. Now, how are these different from a degree? These certifications teach you the fundamentals of food intake, about Macronutrients, Micronutrients, Body Weight etc. Which come in handy if you are already a Certified Fitness Expert and want to offer Nutrition lessons or resources to your clients. But you cannot Prescribe, Diagnose or Cure a patient. India is becoming health-conscious these days, which is why all these people are jumping in and providing Fat-cutter and fad-diets just to improve their click-rate and make a quick buck. But what will set you apart from these clowns is proper knowledge and experience which only a Certified Dietician or a Certified Nutritionist will have. It might take time to get there but in the long run, integrity…always wins.
