The increased rate of obesity, unhealthy lifestyles, diseases, and a lot of other factors are making people gradually more aware of their need to change their eating and exercise habits. When planning to alter their lifestyles, people seek the advice and suggestions of a professional who’ll be able to guide them. This is where the need for a nutritionist becomes important. There are many nutritionist program options which you can check out if you are wondering what your career prospects might be.
Nutritionists can earn significant incomes if they work hard and follow one of the career paths described below:
1. Food products development scientist
Your job will be to develop and invent new ways to make food safe, enhance its taste, or increase its nutritional value. You will be responsible for maintaining the quality of food and formulate processes to improve quality further.
2. Public health nutritionist
In this case, you will work towards helping a community or a group of people acquire healthy eating habits. You will be responsible for determining the factors that may lead to nutritional problems, which in turn increase people’s risk of developing physical or mental illnesses. You will most likely focus on a specific community, geographical area, or group of people.
3. Food inspector
This career path could be ideal for you if you are interested in quality control and carrying out audits, which in this case would be focussed on food. You will check the safety, hygiene, and sanitation systems of companies that produce or serve food. You must be able to inspect properly, i.e., have a good eye for detail, write reports, and possibly present data too.
The job may also involve creating awareness programs for a whole industry, a particular company, or intermediaries. In the food industry, an intermediary may be, for example, a transport company or a warehouse.
4. Wellness consultant
Many businesses today seek the advice of wellness consultants to ensure a healthy lifestyle for their employees. Office employees, for example, spend many hours sitting down in unnatural positions for hours on end. Eventually, many of them develop back, neck, and shoulder problems. Eating junk food is common among workers who are extremely busy.
As a wellness consultant, you will be responsible for providing insights into general nutrition, some nutrition tips to combat stress, get good sleep, and prevent muscle fatigue. A wellness consultant must also explain why or how nutrition can affect their overall health in certain ways.
5. Food labeling specialist
A food labeling specialist is responsible for providing food labels with nutritional facts on the packaging. You will need to provide accurate information regarding the ingredients used in the product, their nutritional values, allergen warnings, etc. Abiding by industry norms and national and regional regulations is mandatory.
6. Nutrition writer
You can write about nutrition and other tips in your books, blogs, magazines, etc. You could even become a health feature writer for a newspaper. If you manage to make a name for yourself, what you say and write can have a significant impact on consumer behaviour and what food processors and restaurants do. In the world of websites and social media, we call these people ‘influencers.’
7. Nutrition therapist
In this job role, your responsibilities will include assessing human behavior and how nutrition can be associated with it. Changing people’s overall lifestyles can help them achieve better health outcomes. Many aspects are taken into consideration before developing a nutrition plan. Along with physical activity and getting enough and good quality sleep, nutrition is a major driving force regarding people’s health.
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Interesting related article: “What is Food Biotechnology?“