What's The Difference Between A Nutritionist And A Dietician?

When discussing the roles of a dietician vs nutritionist, many often confuse the two practices with each other, believing the two terms to be interchangeable. 

However, within this article, we’re going to tackle the question ‘what is the difference between a dietician and a nutritionist?’, by focusing on unique aspects of each role, including their responsibilities and respective salaries.

Content:

• What Is The Difference Between a Dietician vs Nutritionist?
• How To Become A Nutritionist
• Nutritionist vs Dietitian Salaries 

To take your first step into the world of nutrition, though, you’ll need to complete an accredited course, and OriGym’s Sports Nutritionist course offers industry-leading accreditation, alongside unlimited tutor support and an award-nominated e-Learning platform.

With this qualification you’ll be able to start working as a nutritionist, providing bespoke dietary advice to a wide range of clients.

What Is The Difference Between a Dietician vs Nutritionist?

Before tackling the difference between a dietician vs a nutritionist, we first need to understand what each respective job role entails. 

Within this section, we have three separate sub-sections discussing the topics:

• What Does a Nutritionist Do?
• What Does a Dietitian Do? 
• The Difference Between a Nutritionist and a Dietitian

By covering each subsection of this debate you will be able to accurately assess for yourself how the roles of a dietician vs nutritionists differentiate. 

What Does A Nutritionist Do?

When debating the difference between a nutritionist vs a dietician, you should note that nutritionists are qualified individuals who are regarded as experts in food and nutrition. 

However, these qualifications don’t necessarily have to come from higher education, but can also be rewarded as vocational certifications.

When questioning ‘what does a nutritionist do?’, you should be aware that their primary role is to offer advice and guidance that will help to facilitate the health goals of their clients. 

This is achieved through a detailed focus on:

• Meeting with first-time clients to determine their current health 
• Establish the client’s short-term and long-term health goals 
• Create a meal plan that is realistic and sustainable
• Counsel clients through this meal planning process, explaining each choice diligently 
• Educating clients on food and nutrition 

However, please be aware that, when discussing the difference between a dietician vs nutritionists in the UK, this role does not typically allow you to work in clinical facilities. 

Instead, nutritionists will typically work with individual clients on a private basis, as their careers are largely unregulated, and generally not available in NHS centres.

For this reason, you will typically see nutritionist job roles being advertised under titles such as:

• Health Coach
• Nutrition Expert 
• Wellness Coach
• Nutrition Specialist  
• Sports Nutritionist
• Nutritional Therapist  

An example of what an advertisement for these jobs may look like can be found below:

Here we can see that the role is clearly advertised as a ‘Health and Fitness Coach’, operating in Exertion Fitness. 

Note, this role would be best suited for qualified sports nutritionists, whereas others who specialise in different areas such as weight-related nutrition may not be suited for this role. 

Now that all of this information has been provided, we can redirect our focus to the opposing end of this dietician vs nutritionist debate.

What Does A Dietitian Do?

On a holistic level when discussing ‘what is the difference between a dietician and a nutritionist?’, we can say the roles don’t differ hugely. 

Dietitians will still organise food and nutrition plans, in order to promote a healthy lifestyle among their clients. 

However, with their extended training and higher education qualifications, dieticians have the authority and training to treat clients suffering from serious issues, such as eating disorders. 

For more clarity on their job roles, dietitians may also require you to perform the following roles: 

• Teaching and advising clients about how food and healthy eating habits can affect their lifestyle and health
• Discussing a wide range of therapeutic diets that can improve the management of their medical conditions
• Calculate an individual's nutritional requirements using standard equations based on assessment of aspects such as blood chemistry, temperature, stress, and mobility
• Educate other healthcare and non-healthcare professionals about food and nutritional issues
• Work with companies to offer wellness support for staff members 
• Advise athletes and sports personnel on how diets can optimise their performance and help injury recovery
• Visiting patients directly at their place of residence or nursing homes

Dietitians have an incredibly wide range of job prospects to pursue following the completion of their initial qualifications. Many choose to enter private health care facilities, whilst others opt for commercial organisations such as health food stores.

Dietitians in the UK are also predominantly hired by the NHS, in a medical advisory role within a hospital or treatment facility. 

An example of what a dietician's job within the medical sector may look like, along with their usual roles and responsibilities, can be found below:

This job advertisement is just one example of a traditional dietician role within the NHS, other lesser-known employment opportunities include:

• Microbiology
• Chemistry
• Computer science
• Physiology
• Foodservice systems management

This should provide you with a little insight into how the roles of dietician vs nutritionist in the UK differ. 

Other Key Differences Between a Dietician and a Nutritionist

Now that we have covered each practice separately, we can hone in on the differences between the nutritionist vs dietician debate. 

#1 - Where They Work

When discussing the main difference between nutritionist and dietician job roles, there is no better place to start the discourse than on their very place of employment. 

As discussed in a previous point, dieticians are qualified to work within clinical and medical settings, this includes the likes of:

• Hospitals 
• GP practices 
• Care homes
• Mobile visits to clients place of residence 

However, whilst dieticians are qualified to work within these areas, that doesn’t mean that all of them will. 

The area in which they specialise can also influence this environment. For example, research dieticians can also work in educational establishments such as Universities.

In contrast to this, the largest difference between a nutritionist and dietitians in the UK is that nutritionists are not qualified to work in medical industries. 

Instead, they can work within the health and fitness industry in roles such as nutritional advisors in food distribution companies, as well as a personal trainer who provides advice and recommendations to their clients.

These environments are a lot more casual, and will typically involve the clients approaching a nutritionist of their own accord, as opposed to being referred to. 

This brings us on to discussing the next difference between a dietician and nutritionist in the UK.

#2 - The Type of Clientele

You may have read this heading and questioned ‘is there a difference between a dietician and a nutritionists' clients?’. 

It’s only natural to assume that anyone visiting either professional will be doing so for similar reasons, but this is not the case.

As discussed above, due to the somewhat more relaxed nature of their profession, nutritionists’ clients will typically visit them of their own accord. 

This could be for a variety of reasons, such as wanting a meal plan to accompany a fitness programme, or facilitating a specific goal - e.g. weight loss.

In this instance, a nutritionist will create a meal plan for their client in exchange for a fee. They will regularly check up with said client, making necessary adjustments as per the client’s request.

In essence, when debating the differences between a nutritionist vs a dietician’s clientele, we can state that the former is treated more like a paid service than the latter. 

This is because dieticians' clients are often referred to their practice, rather than approaching of their own free will. 

For example, following a serious health condition a doctor or nurse may recommend a patient visit a dietician in order to receive appropriate dietary advice, which in some instances will help to support treatment.

Furthermore, a dietician’s clients will have less say in their meal plans, with specific factors being taken into consideration such as:

• Allergies or intolerances 
• Cultural food preferences 
• Underlying health issues (such as liver or heart conditions)
• Serious medical issues (like an inability to swallow solid foods)

However, dieticians’ advice will be treated more like a prescription, one of which their patients should follow strictly. In contrast, nutritionists can only offer advice and it’s up to the client to implement the changes.

This is arguably one of the largest differences between a dietician vs nutritionist, as the clients effectively shape every aspect of their professional working day. 

#3 - Legal Protection

When it comes to the roles of a nutritionist vs dietician in the UK only the latter is protected legally. But what exactly does this mean?

Well, due to the fact that it lacks legal protection, anyone can claim to be a nutritionist - you don’t even need a qualification to do so. 

This can be of great benefit to some, who may not want to put themselves through the expensive fees of higher education. 

However, this lack of protection has unfortunately resulted in a heavily polluted industry, where unregulated “professionals” can recommend harmful fad diets or supplements, without providing scientific evidence to back up their claims.

In contrast to this, a dietician is a legally protected profession, meaning that only qualified individuals have the right to call themselves such a title.

As a result of this protection, all qualified dieticians can register with The Health & Care Professional Council (HCPC). 

However, if nutritionists are interested in registering as a professional, they must undergo the strict vetting process of The Association for Nutrition’s UK Voluntary Register of Nutritionists (UKVRN).

Therefore, when discussing the difference between a dietician vs a nutritionist in the UK, we are obliged to inform you of these legal standings, as they could drastically shape how your practice is viewed by the general public. 

We’ll cover this topic in a little more detail in the next section of this article.

The Difference Between Nutritionist and Dietician Qualifications

We have discussed dietician vs nutritionist qualifications at length throughout this article, but let’s break that down, and examine the differences in education between the two roles.

Nutritionist University Qualifications

When it comes to debating the difference between a dietician and nutritionist degree, University diplomas are considered to be a more traditional approach to learning each respective subject. 

You can pursue nutrition courses on a variety of levels such as:

• Bachelors 
• Masters Degree
• Higher Postgraduate levels (such as PhD)

According to the UK Government website, Universities will traditionally ask applicants to hold:

• 2-3 relevant A-Levels in areas such as Biology and Chemistry for bachelors Degree
• A relevant BSc degree for a Masters Degree 

The requirements to be a dietician or nutritionist don’t differ too drastically at a university level, as will become evident when discussing the opposing subject. 

According to The UniGuide, the ideal courses will typically be dubbed something along the lines of Nutrition/Human Health, examples of which can be found below:

These courses are designed to ensure that you are fully equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge required to provide future clients with nutritional advice. 

However, the vast majority of these courses offer a more holistic approach to nutrition, which may be viewed as a disadvantage to some students. 

This is largely due to the fact that Dietician degrees will often hone their focus onto one specialist area, such as medical advice.

However, if you’re interested in becoming a nutritionist vs a dietician, there are opportunities to find a specialist area of interest within vocational-based training.

Vocational Nutrition Training

Despite the obvious differences between nutritionist vs dietician training, one similarity both approaches share is their unique approach to vocational training.

These are qualifications that focus on teaching you BOTH practical and theoretical knowledge that can be transferred into your desired career path. 

A prime example of vocational training for nutritionists is OriGym’s UK Nutrition course. 

This certification seeks to impart valuable skills that can be transferred to their clients through meal plans and tailored advice. 

Our online qualification has been regulated by Ofqual and has been recognised by Focus Awards, both of whom guarantee the quality of the course to be of industry-leading standard. 

Following the completion of this course, you’ll be fully equipped with the vital skills required to perform everyday nutritionist tasks such as:

• Informing clients about the relationship between physical activity and nutrition 
• Meal prepping and planning efficiently on any budget
• Preventing obesity among children 
• Crafting meal plans for clients with specific dietary requirements - e.g. vegetarians and vegans 

Whilst this particular qualification strives to cover a variety of holistic and specialist topics, please keep in mind that it has been primarily designed for individuals who wish to pursue sports-based nutrition. 

If you’re still questioning whether this route is right for you, we’d advise checking out our article debating becoming a nutritionist with and without a qualification. 

Here you will discover how this vocational training can positively shape your career for the better!

Legal Coverage Following a Nutritionist Qualification

When discussing dietician vs nutritionist job titles as we have previously mentioned that this role is not protected by law in the UK.

Remember, anyone can technically call themselves a nutritionist, even if they have no prior qualifications or training. However, in order to be recognised by the law as a nutritionist, you must register with the UK Voluntary Register of Nutritionists (UKVRN). 

Please be aware that this is a highly strict process, one which not all nutritionists are automatically eligible for. 

You’ll need to have either:

• Graduated from a Nutritionist course in the last 3 years (to become a Registered Associate Nutritionist)
• Complete a Bachelors or Masters Degree in Nutrition, and have demonstrable, evidence-based experience in nutrition-related fields.

Following this, you can dub yourself as a ‘registered nutritionist’, but by no means are you allowed to call yourself a dietician.

On the back of this, due to the lack of legal standing nutritionists are also allowed to recommend supplements and other forms of medical treatments, but they are not allowed to prescribe anything, as this is the job of a medical professional.

Dietician University Qualifications

In order to become a dietician you must hold a qualification in dietetics or human nutrition that has been accredited by the British Dietetic Association.

This can respectively include:

• Bachelor's Level Degree
• Masters Degree 
• Other Postgraduate levels (such as PhD)

An example of what these Bachelor-level courses entail can be found below from Leeds Beckett University: 

Here we can see that a strong emphasis is placed on understanding and communicating the science behind nutrition. 

However, whilst you can enter the workplace following the completion of your BSc, you can also complete a Masters Degree, an example of which can be found below for The University of Glasgow’s course on Human Nutrition:

As a graduate on any level be it Bachelors or Postgraduate, you need to understand how the body is influenced by what we consume in our diets, and how they can be used to treat disease and optimise health. 

But going through the higher-education system isn’t the only way to obtain a dietician qualification, as you can also pursue apprenticeships too.

Dietician Apprenticeships

When discussing the differences between dietician vs nutritionist qualifications we have previously made references to how vocational qualifications can be a beneficial alternative to the traditional approach to education. 

Apprenticeship can act in similar ways, and in this instance, this choice is ideal for those who wish to work in a dietetic setting with a direct income, whilst simultaneously completing a degree programme. 

Individuals who choose to pursue this pathway are recruited by employers and will attend a combination of lectures, practical learning, and assessments at their university. 

This will be accompanied by 1,000 hours of practice based learning. As of 2023, though, there is only one apprenticeship available, located at Coventry University: 

Other dietetic apprenticeships are in the process of being crafted, and all interested parties should keep an eye on the DBA website.

For reference, anyone who completes this programme will be able to label themselves under the protected title of dietitian. 

With all this in mind, you may be wondering what you’ll receive in return for your hard-earned qualification. 

After all, it’s only natural to have questions regarding the employment benefits of dieticians vs nutritionists in the UK.

Legal Protection Following Dietician Qualifications 

Whilst shifting focus back on to the difference between dieticians vs nutritionists in the UK, please remember that this role is the only nutritional profession that is governed and regulated by law. 

If you decide to pursue this employment within the UK, you need to register with The Health & Care Professional Council (HCPC).

The HCPC is a strict regulating body that oversees policies and practices relating to dieticians. To be recognised by them, dieticians must hold an undergraduate degree in dietetics, or a science-related degree with a postgraduate diploma in dieteticYou may remember from the previous section that registration with governing bodies is optional for nutritionists. 

However, this is a clear example of the difference between a nutritionist vs dietician in the UK, as registering as a dietician with the HCPC is a legal requirement and cannot be avoided. 

Nutritionist vs Dietician Salaries

Some readers may have clicked on this article with the sole intention of discovering what is a dietician vs a nutritionist’s average wage. 

Within this section, we’re going to break down the annual earnings of each respective role and will pull examples from existing job vacancies to support our findings.

The Average Salary of a Nutritionist:

The screenshot provided above comes from the UK Gov website, in which it’s clearly depicted that the average salary of a nutritionist ranges from £24,907 - £37,890. 

This statistic has been generated through analysing existing job advertisements within the marketplace. 

To support this information we went to PayScale who estimated the average salary of a nutritionist to be anywhere between £20,000 - £39,000 a year.

Please note that the estimated figures presented in both screenshots are from a holistic nutritionist perspective, other specialities may produce varying results. 

Furthermore, whilst the figures presented in this section may look appealing, they should be taken with a pinch of salt. 

This is largely due to the fact that these sites use statistics that are generated by active site users, meaning that crucial information could be missing from those who don’t use the sites.

However, we can see how influential industry experience is from the screenshot below, which clearly establishes a ‘negotiable’ salary of £23,500 - £27,500.

The Mac-Nutrition Collective even clearly states that the agreed-upon salary will be influenced by the amount of experience an applicant holds. 

Therefore, if you’re newer to the industry you can expect to be earning on the lower end of this spectrum. 

In contrast to this, we can see the positive influences that experience can have on the average salary of a nutritionist, with this position at the Nigel Wright group offering £40,000 a year.

The Indeed ad clearly states within ‘The Candidate’ section that they are looking for an individual with ‘experience’ within the specific field of formulation and nutrition.

Therefore, we can say without a doubt that if you’re questioning becoming a nutritionist vs dietician, you will need to dedicate a significant amount of years to the craft and industry, before you can obtain this higher salary. 

#1 - Earning A Higher Salary as a Specialist Sports Nutritionist

When discussing the difference between a nutritionist and a dietician’s salaries, many may have expected there to be only two direct answers, one for either respective job role. 

But specialising in one area of nutrition can help to earn a higher average salary than the ones that have previously been discussed. 

Whilst there are plenty of areas of interest to choose from, one of the most lucrative opportunities (especially for newcomers) is sports nutrition.

As evident from the screenshot below from Glassdoor, the average salary of a sports nutritionist ranges from £28,000 - £49,000, a significant jump from the holistic figures shown within the previous section. 

This salary is reflected in the job advertisement below for the Women’s England Cricket Team.  

Here, we can see that you can expect to earn anywhere between £30,070 - £39.647, which alone is the equivalent of a senior role in holistic approaches. 

Whilst this job role is working for a Nationally recognised sports team, it still helps to signify the beneficial qualities of a specialist qualification. 

These specialist certifications can help to set you apart from holistic nutritionists, ensuring that you can tackle more challenging tasks in your sector. 

As a sports nutritionist, instead of just offering advice on topics such as weight loss, you will be dedicating your time to ensuring athletes are at their peak performance level. 

If you’d like to pursue this career path, we’d recommend enquiring about our online sports nutrition courses. This will provide you with the specialist skills and knowledge required to kickstart a successful career in this area of nutrition.

#2 - How Much Can I Earn as a Freelance Nutritionist?

As this article is centred around the difference between nutritionist and dieticians in the UK, it’s equally important to note that many qualified nutritionists choose to work in a freelance capacity. 

Freelancing is an appealing prospect that many qualified professionals choose to pursue, but how much you earn can ultimately differ from person to person. This is dependent on factors such as:

• How much experience you have
• Your area of expertise 
• How many active clients you have 
• Working hours 

According to research conducted by the employment site Prospects, the estimated earnings of a self-employed nutritionist are: 

• Initial consultation: £45 - £75
• Follow up sessions (each): £30 - £50 
• Recipe / diet analysis report (each): £15 - £20

‘How much does a nutritionist cost?’ is therefore somewhat of a subjective question that can be influenced by your individual circumstances.

Ultimately, your earning potential as a freelancer is dependent on how much work you’re willing to take on. 

For example, this could become a form of full-time employment in which you dedicate 40+ hours per week to the role. 

The Average Salary of a Dietician

Naturally, in the interest of ensuring you’re fully aware of the difference between a dietician and a nutritionist in the UK, we’ll now shift our focus and discuss the average salary of dietitians. 

As noted in the screenshot below from the UK Government website, the average salary of this role is estimated to be anywhere between £25,654 - £40,056. 

This information is further supported by Payscale which estimated the average salary to be anywhere between £23K - £37K a year, with an average median salary of £29K.

Therefore, when questioning ‘is there a difference between a dietician and a nutritionist's salary?’, some would argue that the former offers more lucrative career prospects. 

Similar to the information provided within the previous section, the more experience you have as a dietician can directly influence your overall earnings. 

This is evident from the screenshot featured below, which clearly states to work in a private medical field earning £35,000 - £38,000 a year, you need to have 2 years worth of experience.

Therefore, we can once again see how experience can factor in ensuring that you get a higher salary. However, in order to get this necessary experience, you will need to be on the lookout for entry-level jobs. 

This can be seen in the advertisement below for a Dietitian Assistant, which advertises its salary as being between £20,330 and £21,777.

This form of part-time employment can be a great opportunity for students who are looking to break into the industry whilst maintaining their studies. 

These employment opportunities may seem somewhat disappointing from a financial perspective, but they are essential in providing you with the necessary experience needed to gain a higher pay.

Much like the various different nutritionist specialities, there are a variety of niches you can explore within the dietician field in order to boost your salary.

#1 - Increasing Your Salary By Specialising as a Paediatric Dietician

As we have discussed at length throughout the course of this article, dieticians will typically work within medical and clinical fields.

However, those who choose to specialise in paediatric care can craft their niche providing medically assured nutritional advice to children.

This can be an incredibly lucrative career path that could see your salary grow exponentially. For reference, please refer to the Glassdoor graphic below which clearly outlines that paediatric dieticians can earn anywhere from £28k-39k per year, with an average salary of £37,235.

These findings are unfounded either, as medical organisations such as the NHS are willing to pay paediatric dieticians a significantly higher wage than those who are employed within a holistic field.

This can be seen in the screenshot below with an estimated salary of £45k - £51k per year to work as a paediatric dietician with a special interest in the treatment and prevention of diabetes.

Therefore, we can confidently state that a specialist area of interest can help to increase your earnings as a dietician. 

You just need to ensure that you have all the necessary qualifications to enter said subsection of the industry, as it may not be possible to work in these roles with a holistic degree/qualification.

#2 - Can I Earn as a Self-Employed Dietician? 

In the interest of exploring the difference between dietician and nutritionist freelance work, we must immediately clarify that it is somewhat harder to work as a dietician in a self-employed capacity.

This is due to the fact that a dietician's role largely comprises providing medical advice and prescriptions for patients with health issues.

Making and providing these prescriptions is impossible to do if you’re not directly involved within the medical field. 

That’s not to say that it’s impossible to become a dietician on a freelance basis, the opportunities are just few and far between. 

You can choose to work within your local community, in which instance you will be advising low risk clients who are simply looking to improve their diets, like the role we’ve outlined below:

These roles won’t typically pay exceptionally well, and will usually require you to work only 1-2 times per week for a maximum of two hours. 

The job referenced above for example only charged £30 per hour, requiring clients to work for just two hours per week.

Therefore, you can work as a freelance dietician, but the job opportunities aren’t as vast as frequent traditional contracted roles. 

This is yet another example of a difference between a nutritionist and a dietician in the UK, in which instance you may be better off operating as a self-employed nutritionist.

Before You Go!

We understand that there is always going to be some confusion regarding the debate between dietician vs nutritionist roles, but our article sought to clarify some of these common misconceptions.

Remember, these practices are completely separate entities and the requirements to be a dietician or nutritionist are vastly different.

With this in mind, please remember that you can take your first steps into this industry by completing a vocational nutritionist qualification with OriGym.

Here you will learn the ins and outs of the industry, ensuring that you’re equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to immediately launch an incredibly lucrative career.