Public health nutritionists ensure the community’s nutritional needs are met, often associated with government agencies, identifying and solving local problems, enforcing nutrition policies, and teaching basic nutrition. A degree in food and nutrition and certification as a registered dietitian are required. Opportunities can be found through local municipalities and networking sites.
Public health nutritionists are professionals charged with taking care of the nutritional needs of the community at large. Unlike a registered dietitian who works with people individually, the public health dietitian is concerned with ensuring that everyone living in a given area has the ability to get enough vitamins and minerals to promote an equitable standard of health. A nutritionist of this type is likely to be associated with a city or other government agency, such as a department of public health.
The typical public health nutritionist is focused on identifying and solving problems in the local community. This involves developing and enforcing a core set of nutrition policies that form the basis of public health programs operating in the area. For example, a public nutritionist may be involved to ensure that salt consumed in the area is fortified with iodine in order to minimize the incidence of goiter among the population. Likewise, the nutritionist can be directly involved in nutrition programs that aim to ensure that the elderly, silent and low-income families have access to staple foods that provide a foundation for good nutrition.
A qualified public health nutritionist may also consider public health careers, such as teaching basic nutrition to a subset of the community. For example, the registered dietitian can provide advice on diet and nutrition for people newly diagnosed with diabetes. Using recurrently scheduled classes, the public health nutritionist helps groups of diabetics understand what should and what should not be consumed to optimize health. This includes teaching the difference between simple and complex carbohydrates, how to balance the body’s need for carbohydrate intake with rising blood glucose levels, and how to identify alternatives to foods that should be eliminated or limited completely from the daily diet.
In terms of training, many employers require a public health nutritionist to have a degree related to food and nutrition. Degrees of this type are usually available at local professional centers and at many colleges and universities. Additionally, applying for most public health jobs of this type will also require the individual to be locally registered and certified as a registered dietitian. Furthermore, additional studies focused on a particular aspect of public nutrition may be required before a public health nutritionist can be considered for a specific position.
Local municipalities typically provide information to interested parties about any public health jobs currently available in the immediate area. Additionally, there are now networking sites that allow qualified candidates to identify opportunities for public health careers as a nutritionist in many different cities around the world.
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