How a dietitian can help you

Dietitians give practical, easy-to-follow advice. They'll help you understand how to improve your nutritional health.

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A dietitian can help you manage health conditions, such as:

• diabetes
• eating disorders
• food allergies and intolerances
• gastrointestinal diseases
• heart disease
• malnutrition
• obesity
• renal disease

They can also help you manage your wellbeing at different stages of life, such as pregnancy, menopause and ageing.

Dietitians understand how nutrition affects the body and use this knowledge when treating you. Using the latest scientific information, dietitians partner with you to develop a personal plan to meet your needs.

You'll find details of the knowledge, skills and attributes of dietitians in Australia in the National Competency Standards for Dietitians.

Accredited Practising Dietitians

If a dietitian holds the Accredited Practising Dietitian (APD) credential, you can be assured of their commitment to best practice.

APDs don't apply a one-size-fits-all approach. They understand what works for one person may be different to what works for you.

It’s at this individual level that an APD can help. They consider the whole person – each person’s medical history, as well as their needs, goals and lifestyle.

Being able to tailor nutrition advice and find the best approach for each person is what APDs are qualified to do.

Recognised university qualifications are one of the things that sets Accredited Practising Dietitians apart from nutritionists.

APDs offer many services to suit your needs, including:

• assessing nutrition needs
• developing personalised eating plans for health conditions
• providing nutrition counselling and support
• educating on healthy eating and food preparation
• developing nutrition communications, programs and policies
• providing consultancy services to corporate organisations, food manufacturers, schools and healthcare facilities.

Our APD credential is accepted by Medicare, the Department of Veterans' Affairs and most private health funds. Find out about rebates and help with costs.

Your rights as a consumer

APDs and our members adhere to a code of conduct.

If you're unhappy with your treatment or believe a dietitian has acted inappropriately, speak to the dietitian and voice your concerns. Most issues can be resolved this way.

If speaking directly to the dietitian does not work, or the matter is more serious, you may:

• speak to the dietitian's supervisor
• make a complaint to us by following the complaints and disciplinary procedure
• lodge a complaint with the healthcare complaints body in your state or territory (if one exists)

We can only assess complaints about APDs or members of our association.