Health is wealth

When Meghna Roy wanted to marry Sudhirgo Banerjee, a gym instructor, her parents were initially unsure. However, Sudhirgo later explained that he not only owned a gym but also worked as a trainer and nutritionist, earning a substantial income each month. Latika Subramanian’s parents had trouble understanding what their daughter, a dietician in a Chennai hospital, actually did. Kolkata-based Anushree Mitra faced a similar situation when she expressed her interest in studying nutrition 12 years ago. At that time, she even struggled to find tutors for the subject. Today, she runs My clinic and is a renowned sports nutritionist and certified diabetes educator, offering weight loss and therapeutic treatments through dietary plans.

Not too long ago, subjects like nutrition and home science weren’t highly regarded, and those who studied them were seen as less academically strong. However, in our health-conscious world today, the need for nutritionists and dietitians is on the rise.

If you’re a Bollywood fan, you might remember Kareena Kapoor Khan’s famous zero-figure look in ‘Tashan,’ and the credit for her transformation goes to Rujuta Diwekar, a top celebrity nutritionist in Mumbai. Another well-known nutritionist, Pooja Makhija, has Bollywood clients like Karan Johar, Vidya Balan, Deepika Padukone, Raveena Tandon, and Genelia Deshmukh. Nmami Agarwal, a celebrity nutritionist, helped Manushi Chillar win the Miss World title in 2017, and her regular weight loss programme costs Rs 16,500 for three months.

Nutrition and dietetics are no longer undervalued. There’s a growing demand for professionals in gyms, weight loss centres, hospitals, rehabilitation facilities, and private practices. Today, this field offers diverse career options like clinical dieticians, nutrition specialists, health coaches, wellness coaches, holistic nutritionists, health educators, diabetes educators, sports nutritionists and much more.

“After Covid-19, there has been an increasing focus on health and wellbeing. People are more aware and cognizant of how to eat healthy, what exercises to do, how much to do, the dangers of excess exercise etc. Lifestyle diseases are on the rise. India is just behind China in terms of the diabetic population. Assessing the need for this, the Central government and various state governments are investing their energy in this particular space. This has increased the demand for health and fitness experts who can scientifically approach the realms of nutrition, exercises and wellbeing and that is good news for those aspiring to build a career in this field,” said Rajiv Ambat, a health and fitness entrepreneur, founder at NuvoVivo, and also an author.

To enter the field of nutrition and dietetics, one should have a bioscience background in 10+2. One can continue the studies with Undergraduate, Master’s, and Post-Graduate programmes at universities like Chandigarh University, Amity University, Sharda University, Lovely Professional University and others. There are also nutrition and dietetics programmes available at the Centre for Nutrition and Dietetics Studies (CNDS), a part of IGMPI.

“In the last 10 years, people have realised that if they want to lead a medicine-free life, they need to take health into account. Also, the pandemic made people understand how immunity is important and you cannot play with your health and only depend on medicines. You need to have a proper diet to maintain health. Today, people at the age of 30-40 have diabetes, arthritis, spondylitis, and body pain. A healthy lifestyle and proper diet can make a sea-change in their lives,” said Mitra, who completed her Post-Graduation in nutrition in Kolkata. She also practised in north India, where she believes the scope for nutritionists and dietetics is greater. But then, she returned to Kolkata and started her private practice. Today, she has many clients who swear by her diet chart.

Mitra is also a well-known diabetes educator and sports nutritionist in Kolkata. She specialised in diabetes, sports nutrition, and weight loss management after completing her Post-Graduation. “There’s a high demand for sports nutritionists, not just in Kolkata but worldwide. Her clinic in Howrah, West Bengal, also has specialised renal dietitians and child nutritionists. Nutrition and dietetics is a vast field with plenty of opportunities for specialisation,” she said.

Careers in food and nutrition can be also pursued in hospitals, medical facilities, rehabilitation centres, corporations, and various other settings. Many private universities in India now offer BSc programmes in Food Science and Nutrition with specialisations in Food Technology or Nutrition and Dietetics. Students from these universities often have good job prospects with leading companies.

“Apart from the obvious increased demand of nutrition experts, there is also a boom in the sports and fitness activities. Even the food industry is benefiting from this — such as healthy bars, salads, healthy baking, etc are in vogue. Even corporate bosses are investing more time and energy into employee wellness programmes. Nutrigenomics is also an upcoming field that focuses on the interaction between genetics and nutrition and is showing a huge growth potential. Both paediatric and gerontological nutrition also are upcoming fields. Many nutritionists are now offering remote consultations and are reaching a broader audience through telehealth services, breaking geographical barriers. Many nutritionists are also creating and selling online courses, webinars, and educational content. This entrepreneurial approach allows them to share knowledge, build a community, and generate revenue beyond traditional consulting services,” said Ambat, who specialises in lifestyle diseases like diabetes, fatty liver, PCOS, and heart health and also was the health coach to the Kerala Police team.