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Online Nutrition Science Degree

By an allied health world contributing writer
Published:  March 12th, 2010

There are several ways to earn a nutrition degree. Thousands of online degrees, associate’s and bachelor’s degrees as well as master’s degrees are available across the country. A few, but growing, number of institutions offer doctoral programs in nutrition science and policy as well. Many universities have entire schools or divisions devoted to nutritional sciences while other schools group this topic in with medicine, agriculture or human sciences. All of these science-oriented degrees focus not only on what’s in the food we eat, but what these victuals do to the human body and how people metabolize nutrients and calories so as to grow and repair themselves. Many of these colleges actively research the health benefits or dangers of common as well as undiscovered foods and frequently publish the results, which are then taught in other schools through textbooks and educational programs that are updated to reflect the latest data and conclusions.

So much of medicine is nutrition related (such the health effects of obesity, alcoholism, malnutrition, food allergies, intestinal ailments, the psychology of eating disorders, etc.) that the field of nutrition science has become an umbrella title with many subcategories beneath it, including food policy, agribusiness, molecular nutrition, nutritional epidemiology, nutrition communication and the environmental, political, economic and social impact of food production and distribution.

Nutrition science focuses on a wide variety of food and behavior-related sciences that investigate many questions about nutrition, including

• The agricultural aspects of different species of plants—which color of potatoes pack the most vitamins?
• The psychology of eating—what foods are people more likely to eat when under stress?
• Biology—do we burn calories more efficiently earlier or later in the day?
• Biomedical science—what effect do certain drugs have on water retention or metabolism?
• Biochemistry—how are fats stored differently in women than in men?
• Dietetics—what is the best way for a sedentary person to lose weight?
• Dysfunctional nutrition—what are the effects of excessive alcohol consumption?
• Food science—does blanching, poaching or sautéing preserve garlic nutrients the best?
• Recipe development—what foods can be cooked with spinach to help the body absorb vitamins more effectively
• The human immune system—what effect do foods have on the prevalence of allergies?
• Digestion and elimination—how does it all go in and come out?
• The cultural aspects of food and alcohol consumption and how they impact the health of people in those cultures—Do we eat healthier when we are alone or at parties, with family on a holiday or with friends at a restaurant?
• Life cycle issues—what are the nutritional needs of children versus pregnant women versus older adults?

Many other topics, like biotechnology and clinical sciences are featured in these programs as well. In some cases, pre-medical or pre-dentistry students will earn a nutrition degree in preparation for further schooling and jobs for which nutrition is just an adjunct. A nutritionist degree can be a springboard into a career as a dietitian or a nutritionist.

Some programs emphasize community aspects of nutrition (such as how to keep people healthy in food deserts—urban locations with few opportunities to purchase fresh produce), nutrition education (where one might learn how to teach different types of people about healthy eating), sports nutrition (how should a swimmer eat differently than a weight lifter?).

Studying nutrition science helps develop analytical and statistical skills in addition to a deep knowledge about available foods, what they are made of and what they can do for the human body. Some alternative nutrition degree programs focus on more holistic healing practices and may include a study of herbology and Eastern medicine, or emphasizing the consumption of unprocessed foods and the practices of yoga, meditation and acupuncture. Other, more conventional combinations with a nutrition science degree include physical fitness (or kinesiology), culinary arts, business (for those planning to run a restaurant), chemistry, medicine, nursing, dentistry, chemistry, agriculture or public health.

As a high school student preparing to enter a college with a nutrition science degree, it would be advised to gain strength in mathematics, such as algebra, statistics and calculus, as well as the physical sciences like chemistry and biology and social sciences like psychology and sociology.

Studying for a nutritional science degree will involve plenty of reading and classroom lectures, but also demands extensive hours in laboratories analyzing the chemical makeup of food, as well as field studies at farms, restaurants and grocery stores and hospitals and clinics.