The profession and workfields of dietitians in Germany

Daniel Buchholz, Judith Hofmann, Birgit Babitsch, Berlin

In Germany, dietitians are considered health professionals, and their profession is protected by law. The main statutory educational goal for dietitians is the ability to provide diet therapy and nutritional and dietetic counseling. Although information on dietitians’ professional profile and their fields of work is required for the implementation of related political decisions and for this group’s further professionalization efforts, no current research data are available in this field.

Such data are also relevant for health services research, as they deliver information on how routine diet therapy and nutrition counseling are currently being provided. In order to gain insight into the aforementioned issues, a self-developed questionnaire was distributed as part of the December 2009 issue of ‘Diät und Information’, the journal of the German Dietitian Association . The response rate was 27.2 % (n = 1 047). 98.1 % of the participants were female, 76.8 % were dietitians and 23.2 % were student dietitians. 54.5 % of the respondents were employed in hospitals. 85.4 % of the dietitians reported performing diet therapy and nutritional counseling, whereas 54.0 % were involved in food service management. The most reported medical disciplines in which dietitians are active are diabetology, gastroenterology and internal medicine. 75.3% of all dietitians have completed at least one further education cycle, and 80.2 % of the sample population would still choose their profession, if they were to choose again.

Keywords: dietitian, diet therapy, nutrition counseling

Sie finden den Artikel in deutscher Sprache in Ernährungs Umschau 05/11 ab Seite 258.