Join us for a Twitter Chat!

NEW - AfN Nutritionists Twitter Chat!

I am so excited to be working along with 3 fellow Nutritionists on a regular twitter chat that is relevant to AfN (Association for Nutrition) Registrants. Over the past few months we have been developing the @AfNutr website and preparing for our first twitter chat on the 22nd January. You can follow @AfNutr on twitter to keep up to date with the chats.

The #AfNutrChat is a moderated conversation which will be held once a month on twitter covering various nutrition topics relevant to AfN Registrants. The chat will be moderated by Myself (@laura_wyness) Lynn (@LynnBurnsRNutr) Suzanne (@SuzZaremba) and Vicki (@vicki_pyne) four AfN Registrants who are very keen to increase awareness of AfN Registered Nutritionists and the wide variety of work we do, as well as facilitate interesting discussions.

So what is an AfN Registered Nutritionist?

AfN (Association for Nutrition) is an independent charity that holds and regulates the UK Voluntary Register of Nutritionists (UKVRN). This is a Register of competent, qualified nutrition professionals who meet rigorously applied standards for scientifically sound evidence-based nutrition and its use in practice, as well as committing to standards of ethical conduct and performance.

How to find an AfN Registered Nutritionist?

Once accepted onto the Register, Nutritionists are entitled to have the letters ANutr (Registered Associate Nutritionist) or RNutr (Registered Nutritionist) after their name. You can search the Register here.

What areas do AfN Nutritionists specialise in?

AfN Registered Nutritionists can work in a wide range of roles as there are five specialist areas of competence: Public Health, Sports and Exercise, Nutrition Science, Food Science and/or Animal Nutrition.

Public Health Nutritionists can work on developing, implementing and evaluating nutrition policies and programmes, generating the evidence base and applying scientific knowledge to further understanding of the impact of food and diet on the health and well-being of people, communities and society or can, work with individuals, employers and/or communities to support improving diet, nutrition and health.

Sports and Exercise Nutritionists develop, implement and evaluate nutritional strategies to optimise performance in sport and exercise. They determine the energy, fluid and nutrient demands of sport and exercise and provide tailored dietary advice to individuals and groups, ranging from recreational athletes, enthusiastic amateurs to elite professional athletes.

A Nutrition Scientist investigates how the metabolic and physiological demands of cells, tissues, organs and the whole body are met from the diet, de novo synthesis and from body reserves. The nutrition scientist will often use expertise from other scientific fields such as molecular biology, biochemistry, physiology and genetics to support and develop scientific knowledge and understanding.

Food Nutritionists usually look at the science, ingredients, policy, legislation and regulations involved in the consumption or marketing of foods, food development or food service provision. Their roles will often vary and can include nutrition training or education, menu/recipe analysis, customer service, health promotion and assessing, setting, implementing and communicating nutritional standards and information for foods in commercial and food service settings, product development, regulatory support and research/science.

An Animal Nutritionist is a scientist who combines applying their knowledge of the anatomy, physiology, metabolism and nutrition of people to a particular species or genus. They understand the specific characteristics of the animals they work with and apply this knowledge in conjunction with that of their welfare, dietary needs and nutritional disorders, so as to advise others about the subject or construct experiments to increase understanding of the nutritional science of this species/genus.

When is the @AfNutr twitter chat?

The first @AfNutr twitter chat is on Tuesday 22nd January, from 8pm-9pm with questions around the theme of 'What do AfN Registered Nutritionists do?'

We hope that this chat will help raise awareness of the various roles AfN Registrants have and help evidence-based nutrition messages to be shared, as well as providing an opportunity for all nutrition professionals to come together and discuss topical issues. The twitter chat is open for anyone to join, no matter what your background, occupation or experience.

Looking forward to welcoming you to the Twitter Chat on the 22nd January, 8-9pm! Follow @AfNutr on twitter to keep up to date on the topics for future chats too.