Ability to give nutritional advice

[Vulxai]

So I've been reading up, and I understand the difference between an RD and a Nutritionalist. However, I'm curious as to exactly how far one without a degree can go before being subject to legal penalization. One can give SUGGESTIONS without a degree legally, one cannot give MENU'S without a degree legally. So, how far does "suggestion" go before it's illegal?

[Bloodstain]

I'm not sure what you mean. Do you mean someone making people pay them to give nutritional advice under the assumption that they're trained or something? Do you mean over the internet? Do you mean the people who work at gyms? What do you mean by illegal? As in suing, as in charges, as in a fine, what?

[Vulxai]

In person, I suppose. And yes, payment. By Illegal I mean...against the law? Against the law is against the law.

[Bloodstain]

Well I'm not too sure. My guess would be as long as they aren't claiming to have some sort of certification/credentials they don't have, they're fine. What exactly prompted this? Friend got tricked into paying some moron or something?

 

Maybe there'd be a general law or by-laws relating to needing certain certifications or something, but who knows.

[Vulxai]

Well I'm not too sure. My guess would be as long as they aren't claiming to have some sort of certification/credentials they don't have, they're fine. What exactly prompted this? Friend got tricked into paying some moron or something?

 

Maybe there'd be a general law or by-laws relating to needing certain certifications or something, but who knows.

 

No it's just my general curiosity lol. At my last drill, we had an RD/LD come talk to us about eating healthy, and I was curious as to what it takes to be an RD (no interest in it, I just like knowing things), and then I saw that information about you can only give so much information legally.

[Bloodstain]

It's probably just like anything else. If someone gave you construction/electric/car/etc advice, it's cool. Just make sure you double check what they tell you, and if you want to pay them/they ask to be paid that's cool too. If they claim they're a registered electrician (or dietitian) when they're not and charging people for their services under the assumption that they ARE registered/certified/what ever, then that's illegal.

 

Also, my sister is in university right now to become a dietitian

[Myweponsg00d]

Providing general information about nutrition is perfectly legal.

 

Providing specific information that is supposedly tailored to an individual is not legal without a license.

 

So basically as long as you don't go around and tell people what specifically to eat for the entire day, when to eat it, how long to eat it for, and tell them that it is made specifically for them...you should be fine. Basically, the law isn't ridiculous. If you just provide people with information that you know and understand, you should be good. It would be hard to accidentally break this law, unless you tell people a bunch of stuff that you don't understand.

 

For example, I doubt that anyone without a dietetic degree would be able to take someone's age, bodyweight, medical history, family history, bloodwork, etc...and create something that they think is going to definitely be good for that person. Anything short of that is likely legal. Even if you were to provide someone with a menu of what to eat, I don't believe it is illegal unless you are presenting this information under the pretense that the patients individual medical needs have been taken into factor.

[NukeMarine]

So I've been reading up, and I understand the difference between an RD and a Nutritionalist. However, I'm curious as to exactly how far one without a degree can go before being subject to legal penalization. One can give SUGGESTIONS without a degree legally, one cannot give MENU'S without a degree legally. So, how far does "suggestion" go before it's illegal?

Care to give the reference to the local, state, federal or country statute stating it's illegal to design a menu without a "degree"? Usually when it comes to practicing of Law or Medical, the person must be "Licensed" by the state (in case of the US), but that's different from holding a degree.

[Vulxai]

So I've been reading up, and I understand the difference between an RD and a Nutritionalist. However, I'm curious as to exactly how far one without a degree can go before being subject to legal penalization. One can give SUGGESTIONS without a degree legally, one cannot give MENU'S without a degree legally. So, how far does "suggestion" go before it's illegal?

Care to give the reference to the local, state, federal or country statute stating it's illegal to design a menu without a "degree"? Usually when it comes to practicing of Law or Medical, the person must be "Licensed" by the state (in case of the US), but that's different from holding a degree.

 

In order to be licensed (at least in South Dakota), you must hold a degree in a nutritional field, as well as have so many hours of internship before you take the exam.