Who are dietitians?
Short answer: Registered Dietitians are the only regulated health professionals in nutrition in Canada.
What RDs do: Dietitians are food and nutrition experts who translate scientific, medical and nutrition information to practical dietary advice to help individuals and their families achieve better health. Dietitians work in many settings, including providing nutrition care in hospitals and clinics, researching nutritional science, informing public policy in population health, and driving innovation in the food industry.
What type of training and education do dietitians have?
Why you should choose an expert in a regulated profession:
Short answer: you can be sure the advice you get is no harmful diet fads and gimmicks. All dietitians undergo the same training and are bound to the same regulations. As per the College of Dietitian of Ontario's jurisprudence, I am obligated to offer sound advice backed by evidence for your best health outcomes.
Regulatory bodies are created to protect the public. In the increasingly crowded landscape of health and nutrition info available online, there is a great amount of misinformation on nutrition therapies not proven be effective and may cause you more harm than good.
Just like doctors and nurses, dietitians are accountable to provincial regulatory bodies (i.e.: College of Dietitians Ontario). As a regulated profession, dietitians are held accountable to the highest standards of education and ethics, to deliver nutrition counselling and services based on sound scientific evidence.
What about "Nutritionists"?
This is where it gets a little confusing. All dietitians are nutritionists, but not all nutritionists are dietitians.
A "nutritionist" is somebody who studies and works in the broad field of nutrition. That can be literally anybody! But only the "Dietitian" title is protected across Canada. "Nutritionist" title is not. To note, the title "Nutritionist" is now protected only in Quebec, Alberta, and Nova Scotia.
There are a number of other nutrition professionals with titles that look like these: Registered Holistic Nutritionist, Certified Nutritional Practitioner, RONP, RNCP, ROHP, RHN, CNP
Questions? Check out:
Short answer: Registered Dietitians are the only regulated health professionals in nutrition in Canada.
What RDs do: Dietitians are food and nutrition experts who translate scientific, medical and nutrition information to practical dietary advice to help individuals and their families achieve better health. Dietitians work in many settings, including providing nutrition care in hospitals and clinics, researching nutritional science, informing public policy in population health, and driving innovation in the food industry.
What type of training and education do dietitians have?
- A four-year accredited undergraduate university program specializing in nutrition and dietetics. (That's many many hours in science and clinical nutrition classes!)
- An accredited clinical internship in health care settings such as hospitals and community health practices, where interns learn from and are evaluated by experienced dietitian preceptors in the field.
- All dietitians must pass the Canadian Dietetic Registration Examination to complete their certification.
Why you should choose an expert in a regulated profession:
Short answer: you can be sure the advice you get is no harmful diet fads and gimmicks. All dietitians undergo the same training and are bound to the same regulations. As per the College of Dietitian of Ontario's jurisprudence, I am obligated to offer sound advice backed by evidence for your best health outcomes.
Regulatory bodies are created to protect the public. In the increasingly crowded landscape of health and nutrition info available online, there is a great amount of misinformation on nutrition therapies not proven be effective and may cause you more harm than good.
Just like doctors and nurses, dietitians are accountable to provincial regulatory bodies (i.e.: College of Dietitians Ontario). As a regulated profession, dietitians are held accountable to the highest standards of education and ethics, to deliver nutrition counselling and services based on sound scientific evidence.
What about "Nutritionists"?
This is where it gets a little confusing. All dietitians are nutritionists, but not all nutritionists are dietitians.
A "nutritionist" is somebody who studies and works in the broad field of nutrition. That can be literally anybody! But only the "Dietitian" title is protected across Canada. "Nutritionist" title is not. To note, the title "Nutritionist" is now protected only in Quebec, Alberta, and Nova Scotia.
There are a number of other nutrition professionals with titles that look like these: Registered Holistic Nutritionist, Certified Nutritional Practitioner, RONP, RNCP, ROHP, RHN, CNP
- These titles do not indicate that they are regulated professions.
- Their training programs are often privately owned and vary in length and rigor
Questions? Check out:
