We live in a society that virtually revolves around food, so it’s not unusual for anyone to want to learn more about nutrition and its link to health. Most people are familiar with becoming a nutritionist or dietitian as employment choices in the field, but what other careers in nutrition are available to you once you earn an MPH degree in nutrition?
Once you earn your MPH degree in nutrition, you’ll be qualified to work in more positions than you may realize. MPH degrees that focus on nutrition far from limit you to working as a nutritionist or dietitian, although you can certainly do those jobs. You should consider these degrees in nutrition as MPH plus programs. Significant chunks of these programs are devoted to graduate coursework in public health, combined with nutrition-specific courses. These programs can lead to careers in nutrition and in other, over-arching public health spheres. Below is a list of potential career choices:
- – Fitness Trainer
- – Community Fitness Organizer
- – Physical Education Coordinator
- – Dietitian
- – Nutritional or Health Behavior Researcher
- – Community Health Coordinator
- – Cafeteria Manager
- – School Nutritionist
- – Genetic Researcher
- – Chef or Restaurant Owner
- – Food Service Manager
- – Nutritional Business Owner
Don’t forget there are also traditional public health positions which include working in public health education, consulting, emergency management, communications, epidemiology & research, and much more.
In order to begin one of the many careers in nutrition, you’ll need a degree that you can excel in. OnlineMastersinPublicHealth offers help in the form of a ranking to help students find online options for an MPH degree in nutrition. Programs are chosen for affordability, positive student feedback, and overall high quality of the institution. You can find a more detailed methodology on the page with the ranking.
The top 3 universities featured in our ranking for their online MPH degree in nutrition are the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and the University of South Florida. Other schools include Appalachian State University and Liberty University. These are the best for online programs and there are certainly more programs available. Students who are seeking on-campus programs may be able to find one closer to home than they expected.
Careers in nutrition can be extremely fulfilling. You’ll likely be working to help people make choices that can give them longer, healthier and more fulfilling lives. Also, the Bureau of Labor Statistics states that the dietitian and nutritionist positions are expected to grow by 15 percent from 2016 to 2026, much faster than average for all occupations. In a fragile economy with seemingly unlimited and unfulfilling dead-end jobs, you’ll go to work knowing you’re doing something with a real utility that can also change your ability to support yourself and your loved ones.
