Do you know everything a nutritionist can do?
The photo of the poster reflects what most people think a nutritionist can do: prescribe fruits and food supplements for athletes.
Yes, nutritionists can not only prescribe fruits, but they also have the ability to explain why we should include these foods in our daily diet if we want to live a long life. They can also prescribe food supplements, but there must be a specific purpose and need, of course.
Being a nutritionist goes beyond a table and a bioimpedance scale, in an office and free samples of whey protein; there are several areas of work for this health professional. The CFN (Federal Nutrition Council) resolution No. 600/2018 determines the following areas:
I. Nutrition Area in Collective Feeding – management of Food and Nutrition Units (UAN):
Everything related in this item concerns the management and administration of a unit that produces food for end consumers, such as restaurants, UPA and hospital kitchens, hotel restaurants, school kitchens, school feeding programs, worker feeding programs, kitchens of large companies, among others.
II. Clinical Nutrition Area – Nutritional and Diet Therapy Assistance in Hospitals, Outpatient Clinics, Offices and Homes:
This item lists clinical activities that require dietary therapy care, such as hospitals and UPAs, outpatient clinics, long-term care facilities for the elderly, human milk banks and lactation centers, and even the home environment. Dietary therapies for specific pathologies such as kidney problems, cancer, obesity, diabetes mellitus 1 and 2, hypertension, eating disorders, among others. Patients who are pre- and post-surgery also deserve attention, regardless of the reason. Areas that are gaining strength are aesthetics and women’s health, one that is still under construction is nutritional therapy for atypical neuropathies (food selectivity), one of my niches, as well as a deeper look at the patient as a whole, which is behavioral nutrition, an area in which I am doing postgraduate studies.
III. Area of Nutrition in Sports and Physical Exercise – Nutritional Assistance and Diet Therapy for Athletes and Sportspeople:
The darling! The area that “disclosed” nutrition throughout the world and to this day, when we talk about nutritionists, the immediate connection is with sports. And that’s okay! But even this area is super broad, and can work in offices, gyms, competition preparations, etc.
It is really interesting to note that nutrition goes far beyond what one might imagine. Nutritionists can work in Institutional Policies and Programs, the National Food and Nutrition Security Policy (PNSAN), the National Food and Nutrition Security System (SISAN): the Food Acquisition Program (PAA), Bolsa Família, health surveillance, among others.
A nutritionist can give nutritional education lectures in schools, health units, companies, conferences, and wherever else the subject is appropriate.
Eating is one of the behaviors we do most, we repeat it throughout the day. It is not up to us, as health professionals, to restrict or judge anyone’s diet; what we do is provide guidance, active listening, and direction, just like in medicine.
See you soon!
