What is RD vs. Nutritionist?
A registered dietitian is a food and nutrition progressional, able to provide current and credible evidence based nutrition guidelines to the public.
Registered Dietitians (RD) have:
- A 4-year degree from an accredited college or university program
- Completed an accredited supervised practice in nutrition and dietetics.
- Passed an extensive national exam administered by the Commission on Dietetics Registration.
- Registered Dietitians must also complete 75 hours of approved continuing education credits every five years to maintain their registration.
Nutritionist is often used interchangeabley with "registered dietitian." Registered dietitian is not synonymous with "nutritionist." Nutritionist is not a professionally regulated term - there is no minimum academic or training qualifications ; which means that anyone can use the term "nutritionist" and dispense nutrition advice, even if they have absolutely no background in nutrition. Registered Dietitian is a professionally regulated term. Most states also require licensure for Registered Dietitians. South Carolina has just passed licensure for the Registered Dietitians. Licensure is done in an effort to protect the citizen from receiving potentially harmful, erroneous information regarding nutrition from someone who calls themselves a 'nutritionist' yet has no formal training or experience and is not licensed to practice. Technically, only a registered dietitian can use the term dietitian.
If you have any concerns about the person providing nutrition counseling, ask for their credentials and license.