Nutrition and Dietetics: After 12th Courses, Duration, Top Colleges, Fees, Admission Process, Syllabus, Job Opportunities, and Salary
Nutrition and dietetics course is designed for the candidates to provide knowledge related to health, fitness, and healthy eating. This is the best opportunity for those who want to make a career as a nutritionist.
Nutrition and Dietetics Course: What is that?
Nutrition and Dietetics is the most important stream of leading an ailment-less life. It deals with food-related science, nutrition, and dietetics along with other major areas such as nutrition and food microbiology. Daily, we eat different food items, but it is important to know what is healthy and what is not. Maintaining a proper healthy diet is essential for every individual to carry out various functions. Due to this, nutrition and dietetics courses are emerging as good careers for many students in India. The experts in Nutrition and dietetics recommend diets to the patients. In India, you can pursue many nutrition and dietetics courses at different levels. The information related to these courses from course to salary is also given here. Check out the below details of nutrition and dietetics to pursue a career in this field.
Is Nutrition and Dietetics a course that everyone can take?
In order to clarify, we want to tell you that you can pursue nutrition and dietetics courses after passing 12th. It is also important to clear the 10+2 grade with the relevant stream to get admission. For the master’s course in food and nutrition, you need to fulfill other eligibility criteria. It is provided below if someone wishes to continue higher studies.
Best Courses to Pursue In Nutrition and Dietetics
In India, undergraduate, postgraduate, and diploma level Nutrition and dietetics courses are available. And, they are listed below for those who want to become nutritionists and dietitians.
- Post graduate Diploma in Dietetics and Public Health Nutrition (DDPHN)
- BSc (Food & Nutrition)
- MSc (Food & Nutrition)
- MSc (Food & Fermentation Technology)
- MSc – Home Science (Specialization in food science & nutrition)
- PG Diploma in Food & Nutrition
Duration of Courses
The PG or postgraduate Diploma course in Dietetics and Public Health Nutrition is offered by this stream which takes a 1-year duration to complete course. An undergraduate programme like a Bachelor of Science or BSc in Food and Nutrition is also can be pursued to take knowledge of various nutrients and food components in food. This bachelor’s degree course in the Nutrition and Dietetics field has 3 years of duration. Also, a Master’s degree course is provided to continue further studies ahead. The duration of full-time postgraduate courses like Master of Science or MSc in Food & Nutrition, MSc in Food & Fermentation Technology), and MSc in Home Science with a Specialization in food science & nutrition is 2 years. Each course is generally divided into 4 semesters. Furthermore, these courses are designed to provide deep knowledge of their respective subjects. The PG Diploma in Food and Nutrition is a postgraduate level programme that you can complete within 6 months-1 year duration.
Required skills for Nutrition and Dietetics Course
Pursuing a nutrition and dietetics course is as important as having some skill sets. For the course, candidates must have an interest in the field. The second thing that is required in this field is skills. Some important skills such as Decision making, Observant, Persistence, Innovative, Leadership quality, organization skills, multi-tasking skills, and learning attitude all are important to ensure a successful career.
Top Colleges
For a few years, the food nutrition and dietetics demand is growing due to the increased population. So, some of the popular Nutrition and Dietetics top colleges are listed below.
1.) National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad
2.) University of Bombay, Mumbai
3.) SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai
4.) University of Health Science, VijayawadaA P
5.) Jawahar Lal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad
6.) Central Food Technology & Research Institute, Mysuru.
7.) University of Mysore, Mysore.
8.) Tamil Nadu GD Naidu Agricultural University, Coimbatore
9.) All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Calcutta
10.) Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi (http://www.ignou.ac.in/)
Eligibility Criteria for Admission
- It is essential for aspirants to fulfill the following eligibility criteria to pursue nutrition and dietetics courses.
- Candidates who have passed class 12 or 10 + 2 from a recognized board are eligible for undergraduate course admission.
- A minimum aggregate of 50% is also compulsory to get admission.
- For short-term courses, most colleges do not require a specific percentage.
- Candidates who want take admission to the postgraduate or Post graduate diploma course, need to complete a bachelor’s level course in the relevant stream. Also, they must have scored 60% marks in the bachelor’s degree from any recognized university.
Entrance Exams and Admission Process
Candidates are advised to check the official website of the college where they wish to go. The admission process for nutrition and dietetics will be available there. For admission, the institute takes the entrance exam score into consideration. The merit of previous education is also required to get admission. To obtain the courses, some top entrance exams for nutrition and dietetics are LPU NEST, NIMSEE, BHU PET, AUCET, MNRAT, IEMJEE, SAT India, and Calcutta University Entrance exam. You need clear the entrance test by scoring minimum passing marks. Once you will have scores, the chances of getting selected for admission will increase.
Fee Structure
Sr. no. |
Colleges or University
|
Fees |
1. |
National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad |
INR 1,02,500 |
2. |
University of Bombay, Mumbai
|
INR 2,50,000 |
3. |
SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai |
INR 1,65,000 |
4. |
University of Health Science, Vijayawada A P |
INR 2,50,000 |
5. |
Jawahar Lal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad |
INR 1,15,100 |
6. |
Central Food Technology & Research Institute, Mysuru |
INR 60,000 |
7. |
University of Mysore, Mysore |
INR 2,28,000 |
8. |
Tamil Nadu GD Naidu Agricultural University, Coimbatore |
INR 25,000 |
9. |
All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Calcutta |
INR 2,75,000 |
10. |
Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi (http://www.ignou.ac.in/) |
INR 65,000 |
‘List of Subjects and a Syllabus for Nutrition and Dietetics course
Both core and elective subjects are present in the BSc nutrition and dietetics course. Some of the subjects and syllabus for the nutrition and dietetics course are covered in the table below.
Common Subjects and Syllabus for Post graduate Diploma in Dietetics and Public Health Nutrition (DDPHN), BSc (Food & Nutrition), MSc (Food & Nutrition), MSc (Food & Fermentation Technology), MSc – Home Science (Specialization in food science & nutrition), and PG Diploma in Food & Nutrition
Nutritional Biochemistry | Public health and nutrition |
Introduction to food science | Family meal and diet planning |
Soft skills and communication skills | Diet and patient counseling |
Advanced Nutrition I | Food packaging and marketing management |
Nutrition through developmental stages | Human Physiology |
Science of bakery and confectionery | Food microbiology |
Food and Nutrition | Food processing operations and management |
Food quality analysis | Food Biotechnology |
Introduction to Dietetics | Food chemistry |
Introduction to food preservation | Dietetics 2 |
Human nutrition | Research Methodology and statistics |
Food industry management | Nutritional ethics |
Foodservice management | Mother and child health |
Nutraceuticals and functional foods | Computer Application |
Extra: disciplinary paper (E.D) | Diet Therapy I |
Nutritional management safety for food science | Food science |
Diet therapy II | Clinical Nutrition |
Dissertation | Community nutrition |
Food cost and quality control | Clinical Nutrition |
Financial and food management | Human Rights |
Advanced Nutrition: II | Internship |
Responsibilities of Nutrition and Dietetics Professional
Candidates’ careers will grow more once they know their responsibilities and work accordingly after nutrition and dietetics courses. Generally, there are various duties that a professional in nutrition and dietetics performs. All of them are given in this para. The roles and responsibilities of professionals like nutritionists, Clinical dietitians, dieticians, Research and Development Managers, are Marketing Managers are as follows.
- Planning charts of diet for different individuals.
- Deal with patients.
- Helping individuals to lose or gain weight.
- Do research on people’s health to provide a proper diet.
- Being updated with the new things in Nutrition.
- Take care of hospital patients by providing them diet.
- Fulfill the nutritional requirements of clients.
Job Opportunities and Salary after Nutrition and Dietetics studies
Currently, people are concerned for their health. Many individuals are also getting sick due to the fast food life. A healthy diet has now become the most important topic among everyone. So, if you have completed a bachelor’s or master’s degree course, then you can apply for the various job titles. Some job profiles to make a career in nutrition and dietetics are Nutritionist, Food Inspector, Dietician, Food Research Analyst, Food technologist, and Food Quality Analyst. There are many recruiters in this field who hire these professionals for their work. Some top recruiters after nutrition are dietetics courses are Glanbia Performance Nutrition, FSSAI, Pepsico Ind., Nestle, ITC Limited, Hindustan Unilever Limited, Kwality, Vadilal, Buhler, Godrej Agrovet, Cadbury, Avid Nutilabs, Nutramarc Sports Nutrition, and Herbalife Nutrition. Candidates pursuing the Nutrition and dietetics course will get a salary between INR 2,00,000 to INR 4,00, 000 per annum at the beginning. But, Experience and Expertise can increase your salary initially or later.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the nutrition and dietetics field difficult to understand?
No. The field of nutrition and dietetics includes information related to food and nutrition. We grow up knowing most of the food’s nutritional value. So, it is easy for students to understand.
What is the basic salary that a graduate of nutrition and dietetics gets?
The salary of these graduates depends on different job profiles, organizations, and expertise. But, they get a salary between INR 3 lakh to INA 7 lakh.
Which subjects do I need to study in the nutrition and dietetics field?
There are many subjects like Advanced Nutrition, Food Microbiology, and Food Biochemistry that are included in the nutrition and dietetics courses.
I am studying commerce right now. Am I eligible to pursue nutrition and dietetics courses?
The candidate who has studied in the science stream can apply for the nutrition and dietetics courses according to the rules of eligibility criteria.
Also See: More Courses after 10+2