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What does a nutrition educator do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read
Quoted expert
Dr. Stephen Graves Ph.D
What does a nutrition educator do

A Nutrition Educator promotes healthy lifestyles through developing and implementing dietary care plans and providing nutritional counseling. They advise patients and clients on nutritional principles, diet modifications, and food selection and preparation.

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Nutrition educator responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real nutrition educator resumes:

  • Manage revolving caseload of students with IEP team including initials, transfer placements, manifestation determinations.
  • Administer lectures and individual counseling to residential and out-patient participants regarding weight loss, heart disease, diabetes and hypertension.
  • Conduct interviews for applicants to the WIC program.
  • Facilitate the diabetes support group, arrange guest speakers and provide participants with nutritional information and support
  • Develop and implement nutrition plans, prepare education materials for predetermine sub-populations of patients with restrict dietary and religious habits.
  • Write quarterly project newsletters, create tools need to properly assess for obesity causing behaviors and develop educationmaterials as needed.
  • Write quarterly project newsletters, create tools need to properly assess for obesity causing behaviors and develop educationmaterials as needed.

Nutrition educator skills and personality traits

We calculated that 14% of Nutrition Educators are proficient in Patients, Public Health, and Food Safety. They’re also known for soft skills such as Critical-thinking skills, Writing skills, and Interpersonal skills.

We break down the percentage of Nutrition Educators that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Patients, 14%

    Developed and implemented nutrition plans, prepared education materials for predetermined sub-populations of patients with restricted dietary and religious habits.

  • Public Health, 12%

    Coordinated with the Public Health Nursing Department to develop an interactive nutrition class on childhood immunization.

  • Food Safety, 6%

    Guided Brown medical students in culinary techniques, vocabulary, food safety, and industry standards while incorporating nutrition guidelines.

  • Nutrition Education, 6%

    Developed and implemented individualized nutrition education sessions and set monthly goals with clients regarding infant, child, and maternal nutrition.

  • WIC Program, 5%

    Reviewed immunization record for all infants and children participating in the WIC program and document appropriate information in the immunization record.

  • Community Outreach, 5%

    Revitalized community outreach through events, marketing, website, social media and graphic design.

"patients," "public health," and "food safety" are among the most common skills that nutrition educators use at work. You can find even more nutrition educator responsibilities below, including:

Critical-thinking skills. One of the key soft skills for a nutrition educator to have is critical-thinking skills. You can see how this relates to what nutrition educators do because "to conduct original research and design experiments, postsecondary teachers need to analyze information logically." Additionally, a nutrition educator resume shows how nutrition educators use critical-thinking skills: "implemented and created critical-thinking focused curriculum for social studies courses from grades 7-9. "

Writing skills. Many nutrition educator duties rely on writing skills. "postsecondary teachers need strong writing ability to publish original research and analysis.," so a nutrition educator will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways nutrition educator responsibilities rely on writing skills: "participated in menu planning for a local assists living facility, and touched briefly on grant writing. "

Interpersonal skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of nutrition educators is interpersonal skills. This skill is critical to many everyday nutrition educator duties, as "postsecondary teachers need to work well with others for tasks such as instructing students and serving on committees." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "developed excellent interpersonal, leadership, customer service, and communication skills. "

Speaking skills. A big part of what nutrition educators do relies on "speaking skills." You can see how essential it is to nutrition educator responsibilities because "postsecondary teachers need good communication skills to present lectures and provide feedback to students." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical nutrition educator tasks: "presented health education classes in individual and group settings. "

All nutrition educator skills

The three companies that hire the most nutrition educators are:

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Compare different nutrition educators

Nutrition educator vs. Adjunct faculty member

An adjunct faculty member teaches part-time at learning institutions, usually on a contractual basis. Although their duties depend on their position or area of expertise, it usually includes preparing lessons and coursework plans, administering examinations, producing learning materials, grading tests and quizzes, and assisting students as necessary. They also organize various activities meant to enhance the students' skills and abilities. Moreover, they may participate in different committees and work together with fellow educators in maintaining an effective and safe learning environment for everyone.

If we compare the average nutrition educator annual salary with that of an adjunct faculty member, we find that adjunct faculty members typically earn a $26,165 higher salary than nutrition educators make annually.

While similarities exist, there are also some differences between nutrition educators and adjunct faculty member. For instance, nutrition educator responsibilities require skills such as "patients," "public health," "food safety," and "nutrition education." Whereas a adjunct faculty member is skilled in "syllabus," "curriculum development," "english language," and "anatomy." This is part of what separates the two careers.

Adjunct faculty members earn the highest salaries when working in the start-up industry, with an average yearly salary of $66,491. On the other hand, nutrition educators are paid more in the education industry with an average salary of $36,461.adjunct faculty members tend to reach higher levels of education than nutrition educators. In fact, adjunct faculty members are 21.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 8.5% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

Nutrition educator vs. Faculty member

A faculty member is responsible for teaching students a wide range of both vocational and academic subjects. As a faculty member, you will teach and impart knowledge to your students and help them with the learning process and knowledge application. Some of the duties that you will perform include collaborating with colleagues in modifying the curriculum, counseling them about learning difficulties, life choices, and personal problems, and writing recommendations to aid students to secure internships or jobs. You will also participate in activities of professional associations to advance research and standards in the field.

Faculty member positions earn higher pay than nutrition educator roles. They earn a $68,197 higher salary than nutrition educators per year.While the salary may differ for these jobs, they share a few skills needed to perform their duties. Based on resume data, both nutrition educators and faculty members have skills such as "public health," "powerpoint," and "hypertension. "

Each career also uses different skills, according to real nutrition educator resumes. While nutrition educator responsibilities can utilize skills like "patients," "food safety," "nutrition education," and "wic program," faculty members use skills like "mathematics," "curriculum development," "professional development," and "course materials."

On average, faculty members earn a higher salary than nutrition educators. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, faculty members earn the most pay in the health care industry with an average salary of $143,955. Whereas nutrition educators have higher pay in the education industry, with an average salary of $36,461.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Faculty members tend to reach higher levels of education than nutrition educators. In fact, they're 15.5% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 8.5% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for nutrition educators in the next 3-5 years?

Dr. Stephen Graves Ph.DDr. Stephen Graves Ph.D LinkedIn profile

Director of Undergraduate Studies, Assistant Professor, University of Missouri

Zoom and online teaching and conference technology will be critical and prevalent in the field. Many jobs will remain, or continue to have in-home features, so being prepared and able to shift your technique and skills online will be beneficial.

Nutrition educator vs. Visiting assistant professor

A visiting assistant professor's responsibilities revolve around performing support tasks and conducting lectures while under the supervision or directives of a more experienced professor. Typically working for a limited period, a visiting assistant professor's duties are no different from full-time workers as their responsibilities revolve around assessing student progress through activities and examinations, developing a series of lectures, and preparing coursework. They may also monitor the progress of students, all while maintaining a safe and healthy learning environment for everyone.

An average visiting assistant professor eans a higher salary compared to the average salary of nutrition educators. The difference in salaries amounts to visiting assistant professors earning a $37,889 higher average salary than nutrition educators.

The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, nutrition educators are more likely to have skills like "patients," "public health," "food safety," and "nutrition education." But a visiting assistant professor is more likely to have skills like "philosophy," "literature," "mathematics," and "economics."

Visiting assistant professors earn the best pay in the education industry, where they command an average salary of $71,258. Nutrition educators earn the highest pay from the education industry, with an average salary of $36,461.When it comes to education, visiting assistant professors tend to earn higher degree levels compared to nutrition educators. In fact, they're 8.6% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 30.9% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Nutrition educator vs. Adjunct assistant professor

An Adjunct Assistant Professor works in a variety of settings, including public or private institutions, career or vocational schools. They are also responsible for evaluating students and conducting student conferences.

Adjunct assistant professors tend to earn a higher pay than nutrition educators by an average of $66,157 per year.While some skills are required in each professionacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities, there are some differences to note. "patients," "food safety," "nutrition education," and "wic program" are skills that commonly show up on nutrition educator resumes. On the other hand, adjunct assistant professors use skills like course content, ethics, physiology, and philosophy on their resumes.The health care industry tends to pay the highest salaries for adjunct assistant professors, with average annual pay of $131,867. Comparatively, the highest nutrition educator annual salary comes from the education industry.The average resume of adjunct assistant professors showed that they earn higher levels of education compared to nutrition educators. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 14.1% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 26.4%.

Types of nutrition educator

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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