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Dietary assistant education requirements

Updated January 8, 2025
2 min read
Usually, dietary assistants don't need a college education. The most common degree for dietary assistants is high school diploma with 39% graduates, with only 26% dietary assistant graduates earning bachelor's degree. Dietary assistants who decided to graduate from college often finish University of Phoenix or Missouri State University. Some good skills to have in this position include patients, food service and meal trays.

Popular dietary assistant certifications include Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA), Medical Assistant, or Certified Dietary Manager (CDM). To improve dietary assistant qualification and skills, we prepared some online courses to help in dietary assistant education paths.

What education do you need to become a dietary assistant?

What degree do you need to be a dietary assistant?

The most common degree for dietary assistants is high school diploma, with 39% of dietary assistants earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are bachelor's degree degree at 26% and bachelor's degree degree at 21%.
  • High School Diploma, 39%
  • Bachelor's, 26%
  • Associate, 21%
  • Diploma, 8%
  • Other Degrees, 6%

What should I major in to become a dietary assistant?

You should major in business to become a dietary assistant. 17% of dietary assistants major in business. Other common majors for a dietary assistant include general studies and nursing.

Best majors for dietary assistants

20 best online courses for dietary assistants

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1. Child Nutrition and Cooking

coursera

Eating patterns that begin in childhood affect health and well-being across the lifespan. The culture of eating has changed significantly in recent decades, especially in parts of the world where processed foods dominate our dietary intake. This course examines contemporary child nutrition and the impact of the individual decisions made by each family. The health risks associated with obesity in childhood are also discussed. Participants will learn what constitutes a healthy diet for children...

2. Aligning Diet and Exercise

coursera

When considering body composition goals, modifications to both diet and exercise are inevitable. Most often, an individual’s dietary interventions do not align with their exercise regimen, which may diminish the potential for success. This course explores the energy pathways and how macronutrients fuel exercise across intensity and duration, in addition to popular dietary interventions and their alignment with exercise recommendations. After completing this course, students will have a clear...

3. Cook Real Food: How to Make Simple Plant-Based Meals

udemy
4.6
(1,644)

Learn how to cook whole plant foods to make quick, easy, and healthy vegan meals for practical everyday eating...

4. Vegan Nutrition: Build Your Plant Based Diet & Meal Plan

udemy
4.8
(462)

Learn How To Set Up A Vegan Diet For Weight Loss, Building Muscle, Healthy Eating, Meal Planning & Vegan Bodybuilding...

5. Nutrition Certification: Advanced Diet & Meal Planning

udemy
4.6
(1,607)

Advanced Diet And Nutrition Coach Strategies Dieting Certificate For Meal Plans, Fat Loss, Health & Sports Nutrition...

6. ISO 22000:2018. Food Safety Management System

udemy
4.4
(976)

Understand the requirements for a food safety management system applicable for any organization in the food chain...

7. Fun food safety and sanitation course

udemy
4.6
(539)

The food safety course will help prepare you for safely working in a kitchen and food handler tests like Servesafe...

8. Food Safety for Managers and Supervisors

udemy
4.3
(489)

The Highfield Food Safety Level 3 syllabus presented in two hours of video tutorials. Boost your food safety knowledge...

9. Nutrition Masterclass: Build Your Perfect Diet & Meal Plan

udemy
4.6
(7,065)

Learn The Truth About Nutrition, Dieting For Weight Loss, Building Muscle, Healthy Eating, Meal Planning, Fat Loss...

10. Food Photography: Capturing Food in Your Kitchen

udemy
4.7
(3,133)

With DIY Food Photography, you'll be taking better photos in no time with what you have in your own kitchen!...

11. Internationally Accredited Diploma in Keto Dietary Advisor

udemy
4
(650)

The Only Course you will need to become a Master Keto Coach...

12. Weight Loss And Nutrition: Lose Fat & Get Your Dream Body

udemy
4.7
(2,115)

Learn The Truth About Dieting For Weight Loss, Healthy Eating, Meal Planning, Fat Loss, Weight Loss Motivation...

13. Diploma Certificate in Dietary Supplements Advisor

udemy
4.5
(1,164)

Become an advisor/expert in selecting the best supplements for weight loss, muscle building and for good health...

14. Internationally Accredited Diploma in Diet Planning

udemy
4.4
(2,190)

Learn how to Create Your Clients(or your)perfect diet and nutrition plan based on their goals, preferences and lifestyle...

15. Basic Food Photography

udemy
4.2
(1,349)

Learn how to take delicious food photos from scratch...

16. Eat Real Food: How to Eat a Whole Food, Plant-Based Diet

udemy
4.5
(4,365)

Learn how to be a healthy vegan or vegetarian in a holistic way for best health, weight, and wellbeing...

17. ISO 22000 (HACCP and PRPs) for Food Safety

udemy
4.4
(618)

Standards, analysis, control points, and risk management related to ISO 22000 for food industry professionals...

18. Customer Service Mastery: Delight Every Customer

udemy
4.7
(18,204)

Master Customer Service using this practical customer care course...

19. Blockchain applications in Food Safety, Healthcare & Pharma

udemy
4.5
(3,019)

Best course to learn about Blockchain Business Applications in Pharma, Food Safety, Healthcare and Insurance Industries...

20. Get to Know Your Food: Claims, Labels & Ingredients

udemy
4.4
(813)

Learn how to make the healthiest and best food choices amidst processed and packaged foods...

Average dietary assistant salary by education level

According to our data, dietary assistants with a Bachelor's degree earn the highest average salary, at $29,493 annually. Dietary assistants with a Associate degree earn an average annual salary of $28,909.
Dietary assistant education levelDietary assistant salary
High School Diploma or Less$28,724
Bachelor's Degree$29,493
Some College/ Associate Degree$28,909

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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