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GENERAL ROLES OF A DIETITIAN

The roles of a dietician include:

  • Identifying nutrition problems and assessing the nutritional status of patients in a clinical setting.
  • Developing diet plans and counseling patients on special diet

modifications.

  • Assessing, promoting, protecting, and enhancing the health of the general public in a community setting .
  • Providing strategies for prevention of nutrition-related diseases.
  • Managing a cost effective food production operation; ensuring distribution of high quality meals/snacks, and monitoring sanitation and safety standards in a food service setting.

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ROLES OF A DIETITIAN CONT’D

  • Operating private consulting practices to provide expertise in nutrition, as well as promote health and prevent disease
  • Working with individuals, groups, workplaces and media to provide dietary advice for healthy living.
  • Working with food and pharmaceutical companies to provide research, develop products, educate consumers, and promote and market better food and nutritional products in a business setting.
  • Teaching nutrition, food chemistry, or food service administration to students in any health profession and at all levels of education.

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WHAT DIETITIANS DO FOR CLIENTS

  • Work individually with clients to assess their nutrition needs (through review of medical and diet history, blood tests, weight and weight trends, along with other physical measurements)
  • Work together with clients to design a personalized meal plan on individual basis
  • Assist clients to establish short term and long term realistic goals,
  • Equip clients with techniques to stay on track with nutrition plan
  • Provide ongoing encouragement and support in brief (15-30 minute) sessions until goals are met (three or more visits are recommended for best results)

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ROLE OF DIETITIANS IN THE HEALTH CARE TEAM

Dietitians serve as trusted professionals, and they fill many roles in the health care team, depending on where they work. The roles include:

  1. Nutrition specialists: Counsel and support clients to make changes in their eating habits to promote health and prevent chronic illness such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, cancer
  2. Policy makers: Advise government at all levels on population- wide strategies to improve the health of clients such as school nutrition guidelines, sodium reduction in processed foods, advertising to children

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ROLE OF DIETITIANS IN THE HEALTH CARE TEAM

  1. Leaders in all aspects of food systems: Provide advice in the safety and availability of our food, food service management, and food production and marketing
  2. Researchers: Discover new and better ways to enhance patient care, promote health and prevent nutrition-related illnesses
  3. Educators: Prepare future dietitians and other health care professionals for practice;

Through health education, promote healthy eating and teach on

the need for the prevention of nutrition-related diseases