Dietitians and Nutritionist Fact or Fiction?
Myth #1: Dietitian and Nutritionist are interchangeable designations.
Fact: Dietitians (not Dieticians) are regulated health professionals that are overseen by a governing body specific to the province they practice in. In Ontario, this is the College of Dietitians of Ontario. Dietitians must complete a 4 year university undergraduate degree (BASc) in nutrition which is followed by a clinical internship prior to qualifying to write our provincial registration exam.
Nutritionist is a general designation that does not require a specific education, degree nor is regulated by any governing body.
Myth #2: All Dietitians must eat only healthy food.
Fact: Given our passion for food and nutrition, we love to eat all types of food and experience them in different ways. Yes, we teach patients ways to modify their diet for an overall healthier life but this doesn’t include restricting or avoiding foods unnecessarily. We follow the motto of “everything in moderation” which means, yes, we are eating the Easter candy that are in stores right now. We can always find a way to fit Mini Eggs into our life!
Myth #3: Dietitians are silently judging what you’re eating.
Fact: Let’s go back to the facts for Myth #2. We love all foods! We also understand that food and nutrition can be complicated and mean something different to everyone. Cost, availability of food, religion and personal preferences are just some of the factors that come into play when a person decides what they are going to eat. Therefore we know there can be a lot that’s behind what a person eats, and we are here to support that.
Myth #4: Dietitians’ role in hospital is to make meal plans.
Fact: Although meal plans can be helpful, they aren’t something we use in acute care. We assess all of our patients to establish nutrition goals to help prevent or improve malnutrition, contribute to management of disease states through use of therapeutic diets and support the body’s metabolic processes during critical illness. All of these interventions are based on literature reviews that we complete regularly to stay up to date with current evidence. It’s a misconception that we are prepping food in the hospital’s kitchen (though we know we’d look great in hair nets!) We do collaborate with kitchen staff to ensure accuracy with diets delivered to our patients. Speaking of collaboration, we work closely with our Diet Tech to ensure our patients’ preferences and food allergies are implemented during their stay.
Fun fact: We taste all food (lucky us!) before an item is approved to go on our menu. We then review all nutritional information to ensure it meets standards for our therapeutic diets.