The Shifting Role of a Registered Dietitian in 2024

The US nutrition market, which includes supplements, functional foods, and nutraceuticals, is valued at approximately $60 billion. Driven by consumers with an increased awareness of the role of nutrition in preventative health, the expanding accessibility via technology and insurance coverage of preventive nutrition services, and the rapid spread and effectiveness of weight loss medications, we set out to answer one very important question: has the role of a Registered Dietitian shifted? 

What is a Registered Dietitian? 

To begin understanding the dynamic role a Registered Dietitian (RD) plays, we must first understand what a Registered Dietitians is. Registered Dietitians are the only nutrition professionals who are legally allowed to provide diets for anything or anyone that has a medical diagnosis, including obesity.

While you may be familiar with nutritionists and not dietitians, the way to remember the difference between both professions is simple: dietitians are nutritionists, but nutritionists are not inherently dietitians; it doesn’t go both ways and it’s important for consumers to recognize that the term nutritionist is unregulated - meaning anyone who declares that they even have an interest in nutrition can call themselves a nutritionist. As a consumer, it’s important to ensure you do your due diligence, and ensure anyone you give permission to make health recommendations is educated and qualified to do so. 

RD Credentials

Registered Dietitians are required to have an advanced Master of Science degree in Human Nutrition, complete a one year supervised and unpaid internship, are credentialed through a national board exam, are bound by HIPAA regulations, and are able to bill insurance.

Our scope of practice is called Medical Nutrition Therapy, or MNT for short! Again, delivering MNT (providing specialized diets for anything requiring a medical diagnosis), is something only a dietitian is legally allowed to practice. Traditionally, dietitians had three options after school: work in a clinical setting, a community setting, or a food service setting. However, no matter what setting a dietitian was in, we were (and still are) viewed as the leading experts on all things nutrition.

The Shift of Technology

But today, largely due to the AI and technology boom, we sense a shift. Accurately figuring out how many calories you ate for the day is easily available by plugging in your food and portion sizes into ChatGPT. You can calculate your daily calorie needs and ideal body weight through an online calculator. Learning the best diet for heart disease is available in an instant on Google.

We’ve never been in a culture that has such an overabundance of information available at the touch of a button or swipe of our finger. While this is positive for many reasons, it’s not without its potential consequences for consumers with little to no formal education on topics that can seem harmless and risk free, such as nutrition.

With the abundance of information we have, how do we know how to properly and sustainably include it in our lives? Technology is unable to provide an individualized nutrition approach that not only takes into account the facts and the science, but also the unique psychology behind behavior change. It cannot provide the warmth and encouragement to take another baby step forward in your health goals even when things get difficult. It will not hold you accountable to missing a session or checking on your learning to ensure you are becoming autonomous and confidently able to make dietitian-worthy choices. 

The New Role

So back to our question - has the role of a registered dietitian shifted? Seemingly, it’s no longer just to educate about the food you're eating and provide tips for implementation - AI can do that. Growing in popularity, the availability to meet with and utilize registered dietitians in a 1:1 capacity that is covered by insurance to prevent adverse health outcomes that are largely influenced by diet, activity, and lifestyle are at an all time high. This is accountability available like never before.

Teaming up with a dietitian is not just valuable to understand what you should eat, but rather to help you navigate the cycle of behavior change in order to accomplish your goals and achieve success. The shifting role of a dietitian is to emphasize the counseling in nutrition counseling, and to help you through the many ups and downs that come with any new goal or habit formation. 

Highlighted by this shift and in honor of the diversity that Registered Dietitians bring to the table, here are 7 expectations that you can have for how a dietitian can change your life:

1. A coach - with a science-backed education, RDs will only provide the most studied and evidence based recommendations to ensure your health is a top priority. 

   
   

2. A mentor - many RDs got into the field in order to be the provider they wish they would have had in dealing with the complex landscape of nutrition challenges that can arise. Because of this, most dietitians can not only help from a scientific and applicable perspective, but can relate to your challenges on a personal level as well.  

   
   

3. A behavior change expert - because nutrition is so intertwined with our mindset, values, and motivations, a registered dietitian is the perfect partner to help bring awareness to your sticking points, weed out your unhelpful thought-processes and mindsets influencing your nutrition choices, and ensure you don’t give up on your goals prematurely. 

   
   

4. A friend - when you meet with a dietitian for weekly 1:1 nutrition counseling, it will be hard not to form a close and caring relationship! Our philosophy? Friends don’t let friends give up on themselves. 

   
   

5. A builder - accomplishing your goals is only possible by building a new framework of habits that will set the foundation for your new lifestyle. To do this, dietitians will help you achieve success by building on your small goals, one step at a time. 

   
   

6. A challenger - to accomplish your goals, doing what you’ve always done and thought probably won’t work very well. A great dietitian is not just someone who affirms all of your choices, but provides thought-provoking challenges to help you increase your mindfulness and awareness behind the thoughts, beliefs, and actions driving your nutrition and lifestyle choices. 

   
   

7. A cheerleader - the behavior change journey to accomplishing goals is hard, which is why registered dietitians understand the importance of celebrating WINS! Dietitians like to start with small goals to help you create success as early as possible, celebrate the wins, and use motivational tactics to encourage you forward and build on each subsequent success. 

Taking a step forward in your health journey is brave and potentially intimidating, but registered dietitians are your best resource for evidence-based accountability that will make the road easier.

Disclaimer: The information provided in this post is for informational purposes only. Any changes to your nutrition & health should be supervised by a registered dietitian or physician.