Career one

Registered Dietitian

“To eat is a necessity,
but to eat intelligently is an art.”
~ La Rochefoucauld

 history/background:

In 400 B.C. the Greek physician Hippocrates, the “Father of Medicine” said, “Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food.” Hippocrates realized that food impacts a person’s health, body and mind to help prevent illness as well as maintain wellness.

In Hippocrates’ Greece, as well as across pre-modern Europe and Asia since ancient times, foods were used to affect health. For instance, the juice of liver was squeezed on the eye to treat eye diseases, connected to Vitamin A deficiency. Garlic was used to cure athlete’s foot, and eating ginger was thought to stimulate the metabolism.

In 1747, a British Navy physician, Dr. James Lind, saw that sailors were developing scurvy, a deadly bleeding disorder, on long voyages. He observed that they ate only nonperishable foods such as bread and meat.

Where did the career originate from?

Lind’s experiment fed one group of sailors salt water, one group vinegar, and one group limes. Those given limes didn’t develop scurvy. And although Vitamin C wasn’t discovered until the 1930s, this experiment changed the way physicians thought about food, creating a market for nutrition careers.

What academic setting or field did it branch off from?

Many other vitamins were discovered and isolated in the early 20th century, and the concept of supplementing health with vitamins was born. The first vitamin pills were marketed in the 1930s, and created a new industry around science-based health products. In October of 1994, the Dietary and Supplement Health and Education Act was approved by Congress. It sets forth what can and cannot be said about nutritional supplements without prior Food and Drug Administration (FDA) review, showing the impact of this industry.
Dietitians and nutritionists first worked in hospitals in the late 19th century as the role of good nutrition in health began to be accepted. In the United States, the Public Health Service began including dietitians in PHS Hospital staffs in 1919 after World War I, to help monitor and improve the health of World War I veterans, and became increasingly involved in the nation’s health care system and beyond, into the private sector.  As nutrition and dietitian programs started to become more prevalent, nutrition careers and dietitian jobs became more popular. Dietitians are registered with the American Dietetic Association and are only able to use the title “dietitian” when they have met strict, specific educational and experiential prerequisites and passed a national registration examination. The title “nutritionist” is protected and designated by many but not all states in the United States.

What is the academic preparation for this career?

•  Bachelor degree in Nutrition
•  Undergraduate degree in nutrition or in a similar field that has to do with nutrition
•  Internship program (for 9 months to a year)
•  take and pass the registration exam
• every five to seven years continue your education to make sure your keeping up with new research and methods

Job setting:

Traditionally, dietitians work in hospitals, schools, and prisons, and nutritionists more often work in private practice, in education and research, although there is some overlap between the two.

Average salary:

According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of May 2017, the average annual salary for nutritionists/dietetic technician was $26,500.

On the other hand, non-salaried nutritionists earned an average hourly wage of $22.10 in that same year.

Resume:

 

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Citations:

https://www.nutritioned.org/nutritionist-salary.html

 

The History of Nutrition