Learn nutrition
Studying nutrition provides opportunities to better understand how what we eat and drink can affect our quality of life. With so many variables in the mix, however, knowing where to begin on your path to becoming a nutrition expert can be difficult.
Learn about what considerations to think about when choosing a nutrition program and find out what job may be available to you after your studies are completed.

Why learn nutrition?
Nutrition is the study of how the things we eat and drink affect our health, growth, and longevity. By studying nutrition, you can position yourself for jobs such as a health coach, nutritionist, dietician, food scientist, chef, or health educator.
When studying nutrition, you have both short- and long-term options. Short-term educational courses last anywhere from a few weeks to a few months, certification courses generally take a few months, and full-degree programs take two to six years.
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Choosing the right nutrition program for you
When selecting the right nutritional education program for you, there are several factors to consider. These include:
- Program length: Compare your options to the time you want to commit. Nutritional education offers extensive flexibility.
- Employment prerequisites: Certain jobs in nutrition may have certain educational requirements. For example, becoming a food scientist will require at least a bachelor's degree.
- Concentrations: Depending on the program, you'll have the opportunity to concentrate your studies on a particular area within the nutrition field. Popular concentrations include plant-based nutrition, sports nutrition, weight management, and pediatric nutrition.
Here are some nutrition education options to consider:
Courses
Individual nutrition courses are a great way to explore different areas within nutrition without committing to a formalized program.
Certifications
With nutritional certifications, you can demonstrate to employers and clients your expertise in different areas of nutrition.
Degrees
If you're interested in becoming an expert on nutrition, a formal degree can provide excellent knowledge and ample opportunities.
Jobs in nutrition
There are plenty of unique jobs you can get with an education in nutrition. Some of these jobs may directly relate to the field of nutrition, whereas others are jobs augmented by your education.
For example, primary jobs using education in nutrition include a dietician, nutritionist, food scientist, nutrition writer, and nutritional therapist. Examples of jobs indirectly augmented by nutritional education include chef, caterer, personal trainer, health services manager, and health coach.
Many of these jobs involve one-on-one interaction with individuals seeking to better their health and wellness through dietary adjustments. Other jobs may put you in a research setting or an educational and teaching setting.
If you're looking for further job opportunities, you can earn a master's degree in a particular area of nutrition. Some common master's degree options include: nutrition, nutrition education, public health nutrition, and sustainable food systems.
A few of the additional job opportunities these degrees can unlock include teaching at the university level, becoming an advanced nutritional researcher, becoming a registered dietitian, and working with higher-level government agencies.
Here is a deeper look at a few job opportunities within the field, with their required levels of education and salary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS):
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