• Nutritionists help plan nourishing food programs.green apple image by Bube from Fotolia.com
  
  Nutritionists help people eat a balanced and nutritious diet. They plan and supervise the preparation of meals, give advice about the dietary changes needed to eat healthily, and show people how to rid their diet of potentially harmful items, such as fat and salt. Most nutritionists work in health care settings, such as hospitals and doctors' offices, states the U.S. Department of Labor, and they earned a mean annual income of $51,470 in May 2008.
  
  

Education

• Employers typically prefer to hire nutritionists who have at least a bachelor's degree in a relevant subject, such as dietetics, food service systems management, or foods and nutrition, and some academic institutions also offer graduate programs in the same areas. Expected coursework while obtaining such degrees includes classes in nutrition, biochemistry, biology, chemistry, institution management, microbiology and physiology. Aspiring nutritionists may also benefit from college-level courses in business, computer science, economics, mathematics, psychology, sociology and statistics, although they aren't generally required. Students should enroll in a bachelor's or master's degree program with approval from the Commission on Accreditation for Dietetics Education at the American Dietetic Association to ensure that future employers consider the degree earned acceptable.
  
  

State Credentials

• As of April 2010 in the United States, 46 jurisdictions and states have laws requiring nutritionists to become certified, licensed or registered before they can practice, says the U.S. Department of Labor. Since the exact requirements for obtaining the necessary credentials depend on the location, nutritionists must contact their local government to learn what steps they have to complete to become eligible to work.
  
  

Registered Dietitian Credentials

• Nutritionists may also choose to pursue voluntary certification as a Registered Dietitian through the Commission on Accreditation for Dietetics Education at the American Dietetic Association, and thus increase their potential for employment and professional advancement. The credential requires completing academic work and an internship, followed by passing an examination.
  
  The mandatory internship must be supervised. Candidates can complete it by attending a program with accreditation from the Commission on Dietetic Registration that combines practice experience and academic coursework over four or five years. A second option is participating in 900 hours of practice training through an internship with accreditation from the Commission on Dietetic Registration, either part-time for two years or full-time for up to one year.
  
  To maintain the Registered Dietitian certification, nutritionists have to participate in a minimum of 75 hours of acceptable continuing education courses every five years.