 Career
Path Forecast
Employment of
dietitians and nutritionists is expected to increase 9 percent during
the 2006-16 projection decade, about as fast as the average for all
occupations. Job growth will result from an increasing emphasis on
disease prevention through improved dietary habits. A growing and aging
population will boost demand for nutritional counseling and treatment in
hospitals, residential care facilities, schools, prisons, community
health programs, and home health care agencies. Public interest in
nutrition and increased emphasis on health education and prudent
lifestyles also will spur demand, especially in food service management.
Employment growth,
however, may be constrained if some employers substitute other workers,
such as health educators, food service managers, and dietetic
technicians, to do work related to nutrition. Also, demand for
nutritional therapy services is related to the ability of patients to
pay, either out-of-pocket or through health insurance, and although more
insurance plans now cover nutritional therapy services, the extent of
such coverage varies among plans. Growth may be curbed by limitations on
insurance reimbursement for dietetic services.
 Hospitals
will continue to employ a large number of dietitians and nutritionists
to provide medical nutritional therapy and plan meals. But hospitals
also will continue to contract with outside agencies for food service
and move medical nutritional therapy to outpatient care facilities,
slowing job growth in hospitals relative to food service, outpatient
facilities, and other employers.
The number of dietitian positions in nursing care facilities is expected
to decline, as these establishments continue to contract with outside
agencies for food services. However, employment is expected to grow
rapidly in contract providers of food services, in outpatient care
centers, and in offices of physicians and other health practitioners.
Finally, with
increased public awareness of obesity and diabetes, Medicare coverage
may be expanded to include medical nutrition therapy for renal and
diabetic patients, creating job growth for dietitians and nutritionists
specializing in those diseases.
 In
addition to employment growth, job openings will result from the need to
replace experienced workers who retire or leave the occupation for other
reasons. Overall, job opportunities will be good for dietitians and
nutritionists, particularly for licensed and registered dietitians. Job
opportunities should be particularly good in outpatient care facilities,
offices of physicians, and food service management. Dietitians and
nutritionists without a bachelor's degree will face keen competition for
jobs.
Dietitians with
specialized training, an advanced degree, or certifications beyond the
particular State's minimum requirement will experience the best job
opportunities. Those specializing in renal and diabetic nutrition or
gerontological nutrition will benefit from the growing number of
diabetics and the aging of the population.
Note: Some resources in this section are provided by the US Department
of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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