How To Become A Nutrition Specialist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a nutrition specialist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Dr. Jeremy Akers Ph.D.

Nutrition Specialists are known to help others learn healthy food choices and plan their meals in a way to support their overall health and longevity. As a nutrition specialist, you will also educate people on food and healthy eating. You will plan and prepare meals for individuals and groups in various environments.

Not just this, but you will work with healthy people and also people with special needs, for example, those with heart disease, diabetes, patients recovering from illness and injuries, people with obesity, and pregnant women. You will investigate the relationship between genes and nutrients of the body. You will also work as part of a multidisciplinary team by supporting the work of other health care professionals.

To be called a nutrition specialist, you must earn a bachelor's degree in nutrition or a relevant degree. You may need to participate in an internship to have hands-on training. A nutrition specialist must be an active listener coupled with good speaking skills. You should be able to motivate and teach people about a healthy nutritional life. $52,000 is the average yearly salary for a Nutrition Specialist.

What general advice would you give to a nutrition specialist?

Dr. Jeremy Akers Ph.D.

Dietetics, Graduate Program Director, James Madison University

There are two: respect the healthcare team that you work with and be confident in your knowledge and skills; you are the nutrition expert. Find your niche and develop that to the fullest. You will have more job satisfaction and advancement opportunities being a specialist.

ScoreNutrition SpecialistUS Average

Salary

4.2

Avg. Salary $53,989

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.2

Growth rate 7%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

7.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.88%

Asian 7.75%

Black or African American 9.51%

Hispanic or Latino 12.06%

Unknown 3.70%

White 66.11%

Gender

female 73.48%

male 26.52%

Age - 40

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 40

Stress level

7.2

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.8

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.9

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a nutrition specialist

Explore nutrition specialist education requirements

Most common nutrition specialist degrees

Bachelor's

54.2 %

Associate

15.3 %

High School Diploma

11.9 %

Start to develop specific nutrition specialist skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	28.25%
PET	11.48%
Nutritional Care	6.70%
Patient Care	6.48%
Nutrition Education	3.99%

Complete relevant nutrition specialist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New nutrition specialists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a nutrition specialist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real nutrition specialist resumes.

Research nutrition specialist duties and responsibilities

Provide districts with technical assistance for a state-wide USDA approve nutrient analysis and student eligibility software program.
Oversee the food bid process and audit of milk and food receipts in accordance with USDA guidelines.
Educate client classes on diabetes, bariatrics, hypertension, malnutrition, and other nutrition relate topics.
Provide options for campers with food allergies, vegetarian, vegan, gluten free and lactose free diets.

Prepare your nutrition specialist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your nutrition specialist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a nutrition specialist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable nutrition specialist resume templates

Build a professional nutrition specialist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your nutrition specialist resume.