Niki Bezzant: Not all nutrition advice is equal

Registered nutritionists are registered with the Nutrition Society of New Zealand, which has requirements for continuing education. Photo / 123RF

COMMENT: Food and health are topics on which everyone has opinions. Everybody eats; everyone has thoughts and feelings about food.

It feels like these days there are more and more people expressing their thoughts about food and health. This is partly because they can - social media makes all of us publishers. Anyone can tell their stories or dispense advice.

This is a good and bad thing. On the plus side, it's got people talking about food – and the more conversations there are about this the better.

On the other hand, there is so much information surrounding us about food and health that it can be quite confusing. There are so many people out there telling us what regimen/product/diet helped them lose weight, cure their disease or achieve glowing health.

Often they also dispense advice and sell products aimed at helping others achieve similar results.

And that is where problems can arise. It's not always easy for us to know who has real expertise, and who is really just trying to sell us something. When it comes to offering nutrition advice, anyone can do it, qualified or not.

Did you know anyone can call themselves a nutritionist? And that there are some terms that sound expert, but are confusing at best, and at worst, meaningless?

Clinical nutritionist is one such term. It has no real definition and is not regulated. The addition of the word "clinical" in this context seems intended to lend an air of medical expertise. But in practice its meaning varies widely.

Likewise, the terms health coach or wellness coach. From what I can tell, these qualifications are mostly gained from online courses, some just a few weeks long.

This doesn't necessarily mean that people using these titles are shonky, or that they offer bad advice. It just means we need to be wary and ask questions – particularly if they're prescribing diets or supplements. Even more so if they're selling the supplements.

The only nutrition health profession that's regulated by law in NZ is that of dietitian. NZ registered dietitians have a health science degree and a post-graduate qualification in dietetics accredited by the Dietitians Board.

Only degree-qualified and registered practitioners can legally call themselves dietitians, in accordance with the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003, and they're subject to the board's competency requirements and Code of Ethics.

That means if anything goes awry with a patient, there's comeback – unlike with a health coach.

The term nutritionist is a bit trickier. Technically, anyone could call themselves a nutritionist, with or without a nutrition degree. More useful is the term "registered nutritionist".

This does have meaning: a university degree in Human Nutrition and at least two years' relevant experience. Registered nutritionists are registered with the Nutrition Society of New Zealand, which has requirements for continuing education.

Because we have Google, it can feel like we can all be experts. "It worked for me" is a powerful sales tool. But it pays to be careful. Perhaps not all nutrition advice is equal.

• Niki Bezzant is editor-at-large for Healthy Food Guide www.healthyfood.co.nz