Nutrition Major: Dietetics Option (B.S.)

Nutrition is the study of how nutrients and food components function at molecular, cellular, and whole-body levels to impact human health and disease. Students are grounded in fundamental sciences as they develop nutrition-specific competencies in nutrition and health, foods, nutritional assessment, wellness, life cycle nutrition, and/or metabolic biochemistry.

The nutrition program prepares students for entry-level positions in health care, education, or the biotechnology industry, or entry into post-baccalaureate professional programs. Nutrition faculty have expertise in clinical nutrition, sports nutrition, and food science, as well as assessing risk factors of chronic disease risk (i.e. obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular, cognitive) in diverse populations (pediatric, young adult, older adult).

The curriculum for the Dietetics option is accredited by the Academic Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND) of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND). Students who complete the B.S. in Nutrition with the Dietetics option are eligible to apply for a dietetic internship, a prerequisite for becoming a registered dietitian. 

A grade of C-minus or better must be earned in all NUTR courses required by the major.

Foundation Courses

Science Core Courses

Nutrition Core Courses

Dietetics Option Courses

Dietetics Capstone Experience

One capstone experience, supervised and approved within the major, is required of all seniors. The capstone explores areas of interest based on the integration of prior learning. The capstone requirement for Dietetics students is satisfied through the completion of NUTR 720 Community Nutrition or NUTR 780 Critical Issues in Nutrition during their senior year.

NOTE: Both NUTR 720 Community Nutrition and NUTR 780 Critical Issues in Nutrition are required courses; one of these courses must be taken during the student's senior year to fulfill the university's capstone requirement.

SAMPLE Course Sequence for Dietetics

UNH Nutrition Program Student Learning Outcomes At the completion of the Nutrition: Dietetics Option, students will be able to:

• Demonstrate how to locate, interpret, evaluate and use professional literature to make ethical, evidence-based practice decisions. Writing assignment
• Use current information technologies to locate and apply evidence-based guidelines and protocols.
• Apply critical thinking skills.
• Demonstrate effective and professional oral and written communication and documentation.
• Describe the governance of nutrition and dietetics practice, such as the Scope of Nutrition and Dietetics Practice and the Code of Ethics for the Profession of Nutrition and Dietetics; and describe interprofessional relationships in various practice settings.
• Assess the impact of a public policy position on nutrition and dietetics practice.
• Discuss the impact of health care policy and different health care delivery systems on food and nutrition services.
• Identify and describe the work of interprofessional teams and the roles of others with whom the registered dietitian nutritionist collaborates in the delivery of food and nutrition services.
• Demonstrate an understanding of cultural competence/sensitivity.
• Demonstrate identification with the nutrition and dietetics profession through activities such as participation in professional organizations and defending a position on issues impacting the nutrition and dietetics profession.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the importance and expectations of a professional in mentoring and precepting others.
• Use the Nutrition Care Process to make decisions, identify nutrition-related problems and determine and evaluate nutrition interventions.
• Develop an educational session or program/educational strategy for a target population.
• Demonstrate counseling and education methods to facilitate behavior change for and enhance wellness for diverse individuals and groups.
• Explain the processes involved in delivering quality food and nutrition services.
• Describe basic concepts of nutritional genomics.
• Apply management theories to the development of programs or services.
• Evaluate a budget and interpret financial data.
• Describe the regulation system related to billing and coding, what services are reimbursable by third party payers, and how reimbursement may be obtained.
• Apply the principles of human resource management to different situations.
• Describe safety principles related to food, personnel and consumers.
• Analyze data for assessment and evaluate data to be used in decision-making for continuous quality improvement.