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Nutritionist

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Nutritionists plan food and nutrition programs, and supervise the preparation and serving of meals. They help prevent and treat illnesses by promoting healthy eating habits, scientifically evaluating clients' diets, and offering advice on weight loss, cholesterol reductions, or other diet-related concerns. Nutritionists can be teachers, researchers, health care workers, or managers. They might also direct experiments to find alternative food or diet recommendations.

A nutritionist should be able to read and write recipes and solve mathematics and science problems. Due to the variety of roles a nutritionist can have, their math knowledge should be varied. Menu planning and recipe development require basic arithmetic. Those who work as management nutritionists, overseeing large-scale meal planning and preparation in health care facilities, will also need to know basic geometry. This includes percentages, ratios and proportions, and volume. Nutritionists who work in research conduct scientific tests, and should have a solid understanding of

algebra, geometry, and calculus.

SEE ALSO PERCENT; RATIO, RATE, AND PROPORTION.

Marilyn Schwader

Bibliography

Hurwitz, Sue. The World of Work: Choosing a Career in Nutrition. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc., 1997.

Wilson, Robert F. Your Career in Nutrition. Happague, NY: Barrons Educational Series, 1996.