Careers in Nutrition and Dietetics

Diet plays a major role in promotion of health and well being of individual. A good and balanced diet habit improves the quality of life while poor diet may lead to morbidity and diseases. Nutritionists and dietetics are concerned with this aspect. While Dietetics is related to food management, Nutrition is related to promotion of health. Due to changes in food habits of most of the urban population, role of nutritionists and dieticians is becoming more important. They suggest corrective food habits considering various aspects of an individual such as age, work routine and sickness etc. and thereby improving their quality of life. They also educate their clients about preparation of food according to the principles of nutrition.

Course Details
The minimum requirement for a career in Dietetics and Nutrition is a graduate/post-graduate degree in Home Science/Dietetics and Nutrition/Food Science/Technology. Candidates desiring to seek admission into Bachelor courses in all these subjects should have passed 10+2 with science subjects. Some collages/universities also offer B.A courses in Home Science for which science at 10+2 is not necessary. This Bachelor courses is of three year duration.

For post-graduate courses in Home Science/Dietetics and Nutrition/Food Technology, graduation in these subjects is must. The post-graduate level courses are of two year duration. Besides, there is one year Post Graduate Diploma in Dietetics and Public Health Nutrition (DDPHN). After doing Post graduation programme, one can also go in for PhD and do Research in Food and Nutrition.

Career Prospects
Nutritionists and dieticians have multiple career options. They can work with government hospitals, government's health department, school, collages, factories and office cafeterias for planning nutritional regiment. They also can be hired for sports hostels and athletes camps. Health and recreation clubs, canteen and nursing care facilities also require the services of Nutritionists and dietitians. Employment opportunities are also open to them in catering department of star hotels and restaurants and research labs of food manufacturers.

Moreover they could find openings in the mass media where top priority is given to disseminating vital information on healthy living. They also can opt for research career mainly in universities, public or private sector research institutes, food product manufacturing companies and hospitals. Teaching the science of nutrition of dietetics in collages and universities is also a good option available to Nutritionists and dietitians. Besides all these they can also work as private consultant or private practitioner.

Top Colleges Offering UG/PG/Other Courses
There are several universities in India those offer B.Sc/M.Sc courses in Nutrition and Dietetics. Some of them are University of Madras, Chennai; Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai; University of Mumbai, Mumbai; Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam; Tamilnadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore; Maharaja Syajiro University of Baroda, Vadodara; Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur; Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, Hyderabad; Allahabad Agricultural Institute, Allahabad; Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore; Indira Gandhi National Open University ,New Delhi; Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad; Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra; Lady Irwin College, New Delhi; Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai; National Institute of Nutrition ( NTR University of Health Science), Hyderabad and Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana.

Remuneration
Dietetics and Nutrition is a remunerative job. Those who are working in government hospitals, academic institutions, research institutes and other agencies have salaries as fixed by the government which is between Rs 8,000 to Rs. 15,000 per month depending upon work profile and experience. Private sector hotels, restaurants, food manufactures offer higher salary and attractive perks. Independent Practitioner and Private Consultants also have good earning which largely depends upon number and nature of their clients.