Dietitians apply dietetics, the science of nutrition, to the feeding of groups and individuals in health and disease. Their training requires a degree course in the nutritional and biological sciences. The role of the dietitian can be divided as follows.
By liaising with health education departments, schools and various groups in the community, dietitians plan and provide nutrition education programmes including in-service training and the production of educational material in nutrition. They are encouraged to plan and participate in food surveys and research projects which involve the assessment of nutritional status.
Their role is to advise patients who require specific dietary therapy as all or part of their treatment. They teach patients in hospitals to manage their own dietary treatment, and ensure a supportive follow-up so that patients and their families can be seen to be coping with the diet. Therapeutic dietitians further advise catering departments on the adaptation of menus for individual diets and on the nutritional value of the food supplied to patients and staff. They advise social services departments so that meals-on-wheels provision has adequate nutritional value.
The advice of dietitians is sought by industry in the production of product information literature, data sheets and professional leaflets for manufacturers of ordinary foods and specialist dietetic food. They give advice to the manufacturers on nutritional and dietetic requirements of their products.