What Does a Sports Dietician Do?
A certified Sports Dietician, helps athletes of all abilities meet the nutritional demands of their sport, in a way that’s right for their personal metabolism and health.
Those with this certification are specially trained to help athletes in these ways:
- Assesses and analyzes dietary practices, body composition, and energy balance (intake and expenditure) of athletes in the context of athletic performance and health
- Counsels athletes on optimal nutrition for exercise training (match nutrition to training phases and goals), competition, recovery from exercise, weight management, hydration, immunity, disordered eating, travel, and supplementation.
- Counsels athletes on achieving and maintaining a level of body mass, body fat, and muscle mass that is consistent with good health and good performance.
- Provides personalized meal and snack plans to promote achieving shortand long-term goals for athletic performance and good health.
- Develops and counsels in hydration protocols.
- Addresses nutritional challenges to performance, such as food allergies, bone mineral disturbances, gastrointestinal disturbances, iron depletion, and iron-deficiency anemia.
- Provides medical nutrition therapy, as needed, to help manage or treat medical conditions.
- Counsels athletes on optimal nutrition for recovery from illness or injury.
- Coordinates nutritional care as a member of multidisciplinary sports medical/sports science teams.
- Provides liaison with inand out-patient programs for conditions such as disordered eating.
- Evaluates nutritional supplements, including herbal supplements, for legality, safety, quality, and efficacy; monitors use of appropriate supplementation.
- Collaborates with the individual’s family, physician, coach, and other health professionals, as appropriate.
- Develops resources to support educational efforts.