Which major would be better to become a dietitian/nutritionist?

<p>I have looked on collegeboard's website for majors and I found two: Nutrition Sciences & Foods, Nutrition, and Wellness Studies. I despise biology & chemistry (but adore learning about food portions, what one should eat, etc.), but I am willing to suffer through it in order to become a dietitian or nutritionist. </p>

<p>I want to pursue one of these majors because I really want to stop the obesity epidemic!! I want to make a difference in at least one person's life. Ever since my dad had a minor heart attack, I became interested in nutrition. Not how a carbohydrate is processed, but what foods are best for you, how much sodium you should intake, and things like that.</p>

<p>My question is, which one is better for that occupation? These are the typical college courses each major offers:</p>

<p>Nutrition Sciences:
* Anatomy
* Experimental nutrition
* Immunology
* Lifecycle nutrition
* Medical nutrition therapy
* Microbiology
* Nutritional biochemistry
* Nutrition and metabolism
* Organic chemistry
* Physiology
* Vitamin and mineral biochemistry</p>

<p>Foods, Nutrition, & Wellness Studies:
* Community nutrition
* Culinary arts
* Dietetics
* Experimental foods
* Food service management
* Nutritional science</p>

<p>Option 3: Dietetics.</p>

<p>Nutrition Science. MNT is the heart of a clinical dietitian’s work.</p>

<p>i was looking for this info everywhere, thank you!</p>

<p>Most schools that have a nutrition department offer two different major tracks. One of these is nutrition sciences, which is focused on research and intended for students who plan to go to graduate or professional school in, for example, nutritional biochemistry, medicine, other bioscience fields. The other track is dietetics, which is focused on application (e.g., developing and monitoring therapeutic diets, food service management, etc.) and intended for students who plan to become registered dietitions. Some schools also offer programs in exercise & wellness, which focus more on exercise, preventive health education, but also might include some aspects of nutrition. Some schools offer majors in other related fields including health education and foods & nutrition. A foods and nutrition major may or may not prepare you to become a dietition; it depends----some programs are more focused on food preparation and other culinary topics, restaurant/institutional food service, or food science/technology (processing and manufacture of foods). You’ll have to see past the particular titles given to the majors that different schools offer. For what you want to do, you should only look for a program that will prepare you to become a registered dietition. This will require that the curriculum prepares you for eligibility to complete a dietetics internship approved by the American Dietetic Association. [Becoming</a> an RD - Where to Start - Educational and Professional Requirements](<a href=“http://www.eatright.org/students/education/starthere.aspx]Becoming”>http://www.eatright.org/students/education/starthere.aspx) Different universities situate these departments in different constituent schools/colleges of the university. Often these departments are found in colleges of agriculture or human ecology (aka home economics). In other cases, they are found in schools of allied health professions or schools of public health. Occasionally, they are found in schools of health/physical education/recreation. Sometimes, you really need to do a thorough search of a schools programs to find what you’re looking for.</p>

<p>Even though you say that you despise biology and chemistry, there is no way to major in nutrition without completing courses in these subjects. This applies whether you do tracks in nutitional sciences or in dietetics. For dietetics, however, some (but not all) of your coursework in basic sciences might have more of an applied emphasis, and generally, you would have to take fewer such courses than if you pursued the nutritional sciences track.</p>