PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTIONS| NUTRITION & DIETETICS|L-8|

Nutrition is a process that involves an adequate consumption of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals to live a healthy and prosperous life. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services discusses the importance of public health nutrition, stating that eating nutritional meals leads to a decrease in hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis, and weight gain. Adequate nutrition is also linked to good brain health and intelligence.

Public health nutrition aims to promote the overall nutritional health among a population. This can be done through a variety of ways, most notably through health services, program development, and policy advocacy. A public health nutritionist is an expert who works in this field, providing education and resources related to nutrition. A career in nutrition could mean the designing of a public nutrition program, the assessment of patients, the creation of diet-health plans, and the education of the general public in how to maintain a nutritionally balanced diet. These are all vital strategies in maintaining a high level of nutritional health among a large number of people.

Job seekers can find public health nutritionist jobs in a number of settings: hospitals, nursing facilities, outpatient facilities, clinics, and physician offices. Some nutritionists are self-employed, offering nutritional counseling on their own terms. When it comes to public health nutrition, the job will revolve around encouraging community health nutrition. Health organizations will hire qualified public workers for these roles.

Public health nutrition takes on a general approach, focusing on the research of disease prevention and quality of life. This area of nutrition will concentrate on research on dieting and food science. Community health nutrition is about the development of health programs that promote nutritional services. Community effort will typically work to provide promotion, patient assessment, meal plan development, food security, food safety, and healthy eating encouragement to schools and communities within an area. These programs will relay the importance of community nutrition through education and service.