What Are the Nutrition Degree Options at UNH?
Find the nutrition option that fits your interests and goals
If you are interested in the relationship between food and health, a nutrition degree can prepare you to explore that connection from several perspectives. At the University of New Hampshire College of Life Sciences and Agriculture, students pursuing a Nutrition B.S. choose from three options: Dietetics, Health and Wellness, or Nutritional Sciences.
The right option depends on whether you want to pursue professional training in dietetics, promote health and wellness, study nutrition through laboratory science, or prepare for graduate or professional school. Here is how the three nutrition degree options at UNH compare.
What do nutrition majors study?
Nutrition majors study food and its relationship to human health. Students examine how nutrients and other food components function at the molecular, cellular, and whole-body levels. They also learn how nutrition can influence health and disease throughout a person’s life.
UNH nutrition students begin by building a foundation in nutrition and related sciences. They then formally enter one of three options based on their academic interests and career plans. Although the options share a focus on nutrition and human health, each emphasizes different subjects, skills, and professional pathways.
Nutrition dietetics: Prepare for professional nutrition practice
The dietetics option may be right for you if you want to pursue professional training as a registered dietitian nutritionist or apply nutrition science in healthcare, community, or food service settings.
Students study areas such as human metabolism, food science, nutrition counseling, clinical nutrition, medical nutrition therapy, community nutrition, and food service management.
Medical nutrition therapy is an area of dietetics focused on applying nutrition care to health conditions. UNH dietetics students learn about the Nutrition Care Process, including how to assess nutritional needs, identify nutrition-related problems, plan interventions and monitor their effectiveness.
UNH’s dietetics option is an accredited didactic program in dietetics. It provides the undergraduate academic foundation for students who plan to pursue the registered dietitian nutritionist credential.
Completing the bachelor’s degree is one step toward becoming an RDN. UNH notes that dietetics graduates must continue into a master’s degree and dietetic internship before becoming eligible for the credentialing examination.
Health and wellness: Focus on prevention and health promotion
The health and wellness option may fit your interests if you want to help people develop healthier behaviors, create educational programs, or promote health at the individual or community level.
The option examines how nutrition and lifestyle choices can support individual and community health. In addition to nutrition science, students study topics related to nutrient metabolism, chronic disease prevention, behavior change, stress, wellness, and exercise science.
Students also gain experience through internships, research, and community outreach. The program can prepare graduates for work in wellness promotion, nutrition education, and community health through schools, fitness centers, nonprofit organizations, community agencies, and other health-focused settings. Graduates can also pursue advanced study in nutrition, public health, or another related field.
Nutritional sciences: Explore nutrition through science and research
The nutritional sciences option may be a good fit if you are most interested in metabolism, laboratory research, or the biological mechanisms connecting food with health and disease.
The option places greater emphasis on the biological and chemical processes behind nutrition. Students study how nutrients function in the body through subjects such as biology, chemistry, physiology, biochemistry, and physics.
This option can help students develop the scientific foundation needed for nutrition research, graduate study, or technically oriented work in science. It can also support preparation for professional programs in fields such as medicine, dentistry, nursing, or physical therapy.
Students considering a specific graduate or health professional program should work with an advisor to ensure they complete its prerequisites.
How do you choose the right nutrition option?
You can begin by considering what part of nutrition interests you most and how you would like to apply what you learn.
If you want to become a registered dietitian nutritionist or provide evidence-based nutrition care, dietetics offers the appropriate undergraduate academic pathway at UNH. If you are drawn to wellness education, disease prevention, and community health, health and wellness may align more closely with your goals. If you want to study metabolism, conduct research, or prepare for scientific or health professional study, consider nutritional sciences.
It can also help to compare the required courses for each option. A student interested in counseling and clinical nutrition may prefer a different curriculum from someone who enjoys laboratory science or community programming.
You do not need to make this decision alone. Program faculty and academic advisors can help you consider your interests, compare course requirements, and understand what additional education may be needed for a particular career.
What opportunities are available to UNH nutrition students?
UNH nutrition students can connect their coursework with internships, research and field experiences. The College Health and Nutrition Assessment Survey (CHANAS) offers one opportunity for students to work as research assistants while gaining research and clinical skills.
Students may also explore connections among nutrition, food culture, agriculture, and policy through UNH-in-Italy.
Each nutrition option offers a different way to study how food affects human health. The best choice is the one that connects the subjects you want to explore with the work or further education you hope to pursue.