Nutritionists are professionals who specialize in the study of nutrition, including sources of nutrition, nutritional deficiencies, and nutritional challenges that may affect communities or individuals. They develop healthy meal plans and check meal preparations to ensure high quality of nutrition. These professionals create meal plans that meet the nutritional needs of their patients in order to prevent different types of health problems.

Nutritionists usually perform many of the following tasks:
• Formulating meal plans.
• Reviewing patient´s progress.
• Promoting activities of public health.
• Creating reports about patients.
• Advising patients about healthy food.

• Being able to establish effective working relationships.
• Having awareness of public health norms.
• Being able to deal with patients from different backgrounds.
• Having good communication skills.
• Being patient.
• Having problem-solving skills.
• Having interpersonal skills.
• Having knowledge about different types of properties of food.
• Being able to plan a wide variety of nutrition education programs.
• Being able to identify nutrition needs.

There are different sets of academic qualifications to be a Nutritionist. A minimum requirement for this business is having a Degree from an accredited nutrition degree program. These courses last four years and include subjects like food science, physiology, nutrition, biology, and chemistry. It is also recommended that candidates for this area take courses related to mathematics, sociology, statistics, and psychology. Programs of this field also require that applicants complete apprenticeships and internships schemes. Some professionals also take an accredited graduate program in order to obtain a Master´s Degree to have better job opportunities in this sector.

There are certifications available for people working in this area that are offered by The Commission on Dietetic Registration of the American Dietetic Association. This qualification is called Registered Dietitian and includes a supervised internship to obtain on-the-job experience in this field.