However, only dietitians can treat patients with nutrition advice (i.e. providing nutrition support to people with a chronic or acute condition).
In the UK, due to a lack of regulation, anyone can call themselves a ‘nutritionist’. As a result, there are many ‘nutritionists’, ‘nutrition advisors’, ‘nutritional therapists’ and ‘diet experts’ providing advice and information on nutrition. To help protect and benefit the public, the Association for Nutrition (AfN) is the independent regulator for AfN Registered Nutritionists.
Dietitian downlow
The title of dietitian is legally protected in the UK. All dietitians will have completed one of the Health & Care Professions Council approved degree programmes and will also be on the HCPC register.
Dietitians can work with patients to manage or treat medical conditions or provide therapeutic diets.
They practice in a wide range of settings, such as:
- Clinical settings, within the NHS or private healthcare.
- Food industries.
- Research.
- Media and communication.
- Government.
- Charity.
Dietitians work with both healthy and sick people. They can specialise in a particular area such as gut health, cancer, eating disorders or food allergies and intolerances.
Registered nutritionists may refer individuals to a dietitian, if the support they need is outside the nutritionist’s scope of practice, and they would benefit more from a dietitian’s expertise.
The BDA freelance directory is a useful tool to search for a dietitian offering consultations.
“All registered nutritionists have a minimum of degree-level nutrition science, or one-year postgraduate course, accredited by AfN. Some may also have a PhD in nutrition too.”
Know about nutritionists
There are many nutritionists, nutrition advisors or nutritional therapists providing guidance and information on, well, nutrition.
All registered nutritionists have a minimum of degree-level nutrition science, or one-year postgraduate course, accredited by AfN. Some may also have a PhD in nutrition too.
Therefore, to help protect and benefit the public, the Association for Nutrition (AfN) is the independent regulator for AfN registered nutritionists. The AfN hold the UK Voluntary Register of Nutritionists (UKVRN).
For a nutritionist to be on this register they need to meet rigorously applied training, competence and professional practice criteria. This is to make sure that people are protected, along with assuring the credibility of nutrition as a responsible profession.
AfN registered nutritionists are qualified to give evidence-based information and advice about food and healthy eating, including for disease prevention.
The easiest way to check for nutritional information you can trust is to look out for:
- The initials ANutr
A new nutrition graduate with less than three years’ experience can register as a Registered Associate Nutritionist with AfN and use ‘ANutr’ after their name.
- The initials RNutr
Once an individual has gained professional experience and can demonstrate sustained evidence-based application of their knowledge in professional practice, they can register as a Registered Nutritionist with AfN and use ‘RNutr’ after their name.
RNutr’s will also have approximately three or more years of professional experience, have committed to provide only evidence-based information, whilst also abiding by a strict code of ethics regarding the advice they give out about nutrition.
It’s also worth noting that not all registered nutritionists are registered with AfN – some may be registered with another organisation.
Look for the AfN Registration logo, the letters ANutr or RNutr after the nutritionist’s name or search for an individual in the AfN Register.
Registered nutritionists
Some nutritional therapists also use the title registered nutritionist if they are registered with the British Association of Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine (BANT).
You can check who is a BANT registered nutritionist in the BANT directory.
Nutritional therapists or registered nutritionists with BANT work within the area of complementary and alternative therapies which means they use a variety of tools to assess and identify potential nutritional imbalances and understand how these may contribute to an individual’s symptoms and health concerns.
The education of a registered nutritionist can vary from:
- A distance learning course.
- An online or short course.
- A diploma or a three-year undergraduate degree in nutrition therapy. These are accredited by the Nutritional Therapy Council or Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC).
- A ‘Foundation degree’ from The Institute of Optimum Nutrition (ION). This is for those completing courses to a sufficient level, however, this is not equivalent to a university degree.
Nutritional therapists can register with the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council, although this is not compulsory.
Both dieticians and nutritionists can add value to many people’s lives but it’s good to know the difference, so that you get the right guidance for you.
Original source: www.laurawyness.com
