Sports Dietetics

by Megan Cooper

There are many different areas within the dietetics profession. The area that is most interesting to me is sports dietetics. I was involved in dance, tumbling, and cheerleading from the beginning of elementary until the end of high school. It really wasn’t until I was nearing the end of high school that I began to realize just how important nutrition is in regards to physical performance. I think back now to all the times I didn’t eat before practice or before competitions and I wonder how much better I would have felt and how much better I would have performed if I would have been more knowledgeable about nutrition and how it affected my performance. After graduating high school, I knew I had to find some different ways to stay physically active, so I began weight lifting, jogging, and trying various fitness classes. At this point, I was studying nutrition and dietetics and I was becoming even more aware of the benefits of both nutrition and exercise. Some of the health benefits associated with consuming a healthy, balanced diet include weight control and reduced risk for many diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and certain types of cancer. Some of the benefits of exercise include weight control, reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and certain types of cancer, stronger bones and muscles, and improved mental health and mood (Physical Activity and Health, 2018). I believe there are so many benefits that can be gained from exercise and from eating a healthful, balanced diet that I cannot understand why anyone would not want to live a healthy, active lifestyle! Since I believe nutrition and physical activity go hand in hand, it ultimately led me to my goal of wanting to become a sports dietitian.

http://www.pointssports.com/sports-nutrition-news-from-the-academy-of-nutrition-dietetics/

What exactly is a sports dietitian?

“A sports dietitian provides individual and group/team nutrition counseling and education to enhance the performance of competitive and recreational athletes, on-site and during travel” (Clark & Steinmuller, 2012). Sports dietitians may work in individual nutrition counseling to assess and analyze dietary practices, body composition, and energy balance of athletes, counsel athletes on optimal nutrition for exercise training, competition, recovery from exercise, weight management, hydration, and supplementation, and provide meal and snack plans to help athletes achieve athletic performance goals. Sports dietitians may also work in food service and menu development and coordinate pre and post competition meals and snacks, purchase nutritional supplements, and deliver nutrition education to food service personnel. Sports dietitians may also provide nutrition education for teams, groups, or wellness programs (Clark & Steinmuller, 2012). Some of the skills needed to become a sports dietitian include communication, presentation, and counseling skills, ability to accurately assess height, weight, body composition, and energy balance, knowledge of nutritional supplements, knowledge of rules and regulations of athletic governing bodies regarding banned drugs and restricted substances, and knowledge of measurements of resting metabolic rate, energy expenditure, VO2max, and lactate threshold (Clark & Steinmuller, 2012). 

http://www.ncaa.org/static/champion/food-for-thought/#sthash.rCK19FFa.dpbs

How do you become a sports dietitian?

The first step is completing a bachelor’s degree in nutrition and dietetics. After that, a dietetic internship must be completed and the Commission on Dietetic Registration exam to become credentialed as a Registered Dietitian must be taken and passed. Once you are officially an RD, a minimum of two years of experience, preferably in a sports nutrition setting, is required in order to become a Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics (CSSD). The NCAA Sport Science Institute (SSI), Sports, Cardiovascular, and Wellness Nutrition (SCAN), and the Collegiate and Professional Sports Dietitians Association (CPSDA) are all organizations that you can become a member of now if you want to get more involved in sports dietetics.

https://www.cdrnet.org/certifications/board-certification-as-a-specialist-in-sports-dietetics

References

Board Certification as a Specialist in Sports Dietetics. (2018). Retrieved from                 https://www.cdrnet.org/certifications/board-certification-as-a-specialist-in-sports-dietetics.

Clark, N. (2012, Nov.) Sports Nutrition News from The Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics. Retrieved from                 http://www.pointssports.com/sports-nutrition-news-from-the-academy-of-nutrition-dietetics/.

Clark, N., & Steinmuller, P. (2012, Oct. 1). RD Career Path: Sports Nutrition. Retrieved from Ph                https://www.scandpg.org/careers-and-students/sports-dietetics/.

Physical Activity and Health. (2018, Feb. 13). Retrieved from       https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/pa-health/index.htm.

Stark, R. (2015). Food for Thought. Retrieved from http://www.ncaa.org/static/champion/food-for-                thought/#sthash.rCK19FFa.dpbs.

Halfway Through the Dietetic Internship: 5 Surprising Things I have Learned so Far

By: Maci Louwagie

Hello everyone! Happy New Year! This year is exciting for me as I will be (hopefully) completing my Dietetic Internship and Master’s degree in August! Yay! The new year got me reflecting a little bit about this past year and the past few months as a Dietetic Intern. I am over halfway through my Master’s program and have about 6 months left of rotations. I have learned quite a bit the past few months and have really enjoyed finally applying all I have been learning the past 4 years of undergrad. There were things I was expecting to learn and then there are always things that you learn that aren’t so expected.

I have gained so much knowledge from my classes and the rotations I have been in and that was expected. I expected to learn more about physiology and nutrition, how to educate on nutrition, and how to interact with a patient. I also expected to learn a lot about what the every-day life is like for a dietitian, and of course how to be an effective dietitian in the setting you are working in. I have learned a lot about becoming a dietitian and am gaining the knowledge, experience, and training that I need to be an effective one. After all, that is what this internship is all about. There are, however, things I have learned the past few months that I was not expecting to learn. I am sure every intern has their own list of surprising things they have learned during their internship but here are my top 5 halfway through: 

1. Every dietitian is different; I can be my own kind of dietitian

I have worked with a variety of dietitians in my rotations so far and none of them were alike. My fellow interns and I, we all share a similar passion for health but even working with them has shown me that everyone does things differently and no matter who you are, what qualities you have or don’t have, you can succeed and be an effective dietitian. Each dietitian writes their notes differently, has different day-to-day schedules, views their patients differently, prioritizes their goals differently, and is passionate about different health and nutrition topics. Just because one person writes their notes a certain way, or is passionate about kids or geriatrics, or interacts with a patient/client a certain way, does not mean that I or anyone else must do those things or be passionate about those things. I get to be my own dietitian. I get to take pieces from all the dietitians and places and experiences I have learned from, as well as my own qualities, passions, and quirks and build myself into being the effective dietitian I desire to be. I don’t have to be someone else. I don’t have to do things the way other people do them. I can learn from other people, but I don’t have to be them. I have learned and am still learning not to compare myself with others but to learn and grow from others in order to find my own success in what I do and become.

2. Many people don’t have the proper education they need to make healthful decisions

I grew up probably like a lot of my fellow interns: chugging mountain dews, eating out multiple times a week, and not having a care to what I ate as a child and teenager. Now looking back on all my bad choices, I want to be like “whyyyyy would I ever do that to myself” BUT, the thing is, I didn’t know. My parents didn’t know. I was not really educated on proper nutrition. But I was not and am not, the only one who grew up with lack of education about nutrition and many people grow up with a lack of education in general for numerous reasons. So,  how can we expect people to make healthful choices when they don’t know? How can we look at people and judge others by thinking “wow I can’t believe they are feeding their kids that” or “wow these people should’ve known better” when many people just don’t have the proper education they need? We cannot place expectations on people when we don’t know what kind of education they had or have. I have talked to many patients and coworkers and many things they say surprise me. Many people don’t know that pop (yes, it is POP when you are from MN) is loaded with sugar, or that “healthy” things such as yogurt and granola bars also are. Many people don’t know how much added sugar we are recommended per day, or what foods have certain vitamins and minerals, or that going on “detox” diets won’t fix all your problems. Many people hear things from the media or other people and just believe those things. Most people don’t know how to look at research and interpret it or to tell good sources from bad. Someone asked me the other day at a health fair, “I have heard that one egg a day is too many, is it okay if I have eggs sometimes?” Of COURSE! (one egg a day is NOT too many by the way). There is no such thing as a dumb question when it comes to nutrition and that is something I have learned. Don’t expect everyone to be as educated as you are. Most people are not and we cannot expect people to make healthful decisions when they just have no idea what that is or looks like. As dietitians, we can be the ones to give people credible and reliable nutrition education and that is exciting to me. 

(Exhibit A: people see things like this in the media or online somewhere and trust it without knowing that this is virtually impossible but how would they know?) 

3. Foodservice businesses are families

Before starting this internship, I was not looking forward to my foodservice rotations. As dietetic interns, we must get 8 weeks of experience in foodservice. I just wanted to get them over with to be honest. I thought to myself, “well I am not going to learn much or enjoy it. Just get through it.” Well, believe it or not, I have done 6 weeks of foodservice and leaving those rotations has been harder than leaving my clinical ones. Not because I became more passionate about foodservice itself, but because of the amazing people and foodservice families I met and became a part of. The strangers I met became the people that have been the hardest to say goodbye to. Foodservice workers become family and interact like family in a way. They fight, disagree, gossip, complain, get on each other’s nerves, but they also love one another, support one another, make each other laugh, fill in for one another, train one another, and get to know one another. They celebrate one another, write cards and collect a donation for someone if they have a parent or loved one pass away, ask one another if they are okay, and they take on newbies like me and welcome them into the family. These people cracked me up and welcomed me kindly and lovingly. They all work extremely hard, and no, foodservice employees are not perfect and they make mistakes but they have great intentions to do the best job they can. I became close with a lot of people and it was always so hard to say goodbye. I was at two different hospitals for my foodservice rotations and I felt like part of the family in both of them. This is something I did not expect. 

(me celebrating ugly Christmas sweater day with some of my foodservice coworkers!) 

4. Don’t judge a book by its cover

This one comes back to my number 2 a little bit. A simple but critical thing I have learned is that we cannot judge anyone as we don’t know their story. Sometimes, we can look at people, and as health professionals, we can make judgements about how people look, are shaped, if they are overweight and/or underweight, etc. The reality is though is that everyone has a story and we do not know it. We can’t assume someone is overweight because they can’t control themselves and eat too much. We don’t know their genetics, their household they grew up in, their economic situations, and what they have gone through to lose the weight. We cannot assume someone is underweight because they just are stubborn and won’t eat. We don’t know what is going on inside their head, the physiological processes behind their condition, their history or genetics, or the amount of times they have tried to gain the weight back but just can’t yet. We don’t know their education levels or how they grew up. So, don’t judge or make assumptions until you get to know someone. As future health professionals and future dietitians, this is a continual challenge for all of us.

5. We can make a difference in people’s lives if we tailor our nutrition interventions to the client/patient

Individualize, Individualize, Individualize. That is the key to being an effective dietitian. We learn in school all the physiological processes of the body, all the disease states, and all the nutritional interventions that should match each one. We learn what we SHOULD be eating and teaching others to eat. However, there is no one formula or right answer we can use for every person we are nutritionally counseling. And I had heard that we had to individualize before this internship but actually interacting with my own patients and clients has taught me that every person is different, even if they have the same disease or coming in for the same reason. Every person’s lifestyle, family situations, genetics, backgrounds, psychological state, motivation level, etc. are different. I cannot preach the same message or make the same nutritional plan for every person. The key to making a difference in people’s lives nutritionally is individualizing my plan and intervention to that unique person. We can, and we will have an impact if we focus in on what THAT person wants, needs, and is willing to do because not everyone is the same. We will not make a difference if we treat every person or disease state the same. I love this aspect of being a dietitian because this means that no day, no patient or client, no disease we encounter is ever the same.

I hope you enjoyed reading a little bit about what I have un-expectantly learned through my (almost) first half of my internship. It is a good reminder to keep your mind open in the dietetic internship and in life and you never know what you can and will learn! 

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

By Ashley Amos

I have always had an interest in nutrition. That’s how I ended up in dietetics. However, it wasn’t until I made it to college that I realized how awesome food really is. After taking classes like food preparation, human metabolism, and medical nutrition therapy I learned what food does for our bodies, and I gained quite a bit of respect for food. Now that might come across as a little strange. Respect for food? I know, but I think it is something that we are lacking in our culture.

Every component of food has an impact on our bodies. It gives us energy, builds our tissues, powers our immune system, helps our nerves function properly, and the list goes on. Food can help us prevent disease and be used in the treatment of disease. How can we not appreciate and respect the food we put in our bodies? Yet, in our culture we seem to mindlessly eat and give food a bad name.

As a dietetics student I began to notice how little people knew about what they were putting in their bodies, and how little they cared. People don’t seem to view food as fuel for their body, but instead it is merely a means to survive. So as everyone runs off to work, meetings, soccer practice, etc. they just grab what is quickest. Who has time to prepare healthy meals and snacks? As a result, the market began to cater to this busy lifestyle, and perpetuated this disrespect for the food we use to nourish our bodies. On top of that we have an extremely high rate of food waste. According to the USDA, 30-40% of our food supply is wasted. I could also go into all of the food fraud, bad science, and false ideas spread by social media that give food a bad rap, but I think you get my point.

Food should be something that we all should appreciate. It should bring families and friends together in the kitchen, and around the table, and be celebrated for all that it does for us. My hope is that future dietetics professionals will be able to channel their passion for food, and share it with the rest of our community. All I’m askin’ for is a little respect.

Picture Sources:

https://www.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/p/keep-calm-and-respect-the-food/

https://pixteller.com/templates/template-poster-simple-quote-food-75432

Falling into Foodservice 
By Isabella Cova

Going into the internship, I had a pretty good feeling that Foodservice was not for me, but then… I ended up at Parkway! As a 2012 Parkway North Alum, returning to the Parkway School District for a five-week rotation, sounded absolutely thrilling! Now having been there for three of those five weeks, I have realized that there was a LOT about the place that I called home for four years that I did not know about.

The First Day 

On my first day at Parkway, I visited 28 schools in the North and South region of the school district. That made for an impressive first day, not only because I had never been to 28 schools in a single day, but because each school was so different. I was blown away by the nurse at Oak Brook Elementary School, who was growing column gardens of lettuce in the school cafeteria. Each day she would talk to the children about the lettuce and harvest it in front of them. Upon harvesting, she would add the lettuce to the school salad bar and the outcome was incredible! Elementary school students were going up to the salad bar three times in a single lunch period to fill their plates with more salad. So, to all the doubters out there who believe that getting a child to eat something green is impossible...look no further than Parkway. As a Nutrition and Dietetics Intern and Graduate School Student, I have heard time and time again about the importance of Nutrition Education, but seeing the impacts first-hand inspired me to new limits. The same nurse at this Parkway Elementary School who had become a hero for the salad bar at her school, also became the champion of breakfast sales. After working on a grant to receive equipment and supplies to make smoothies for breakfast, this nurse increased her breakfast sales threefold. Anyone who works in Foodservice in a school district knows that increasing breakfast sales is extremely difficult because as data from surveys show, getting breakfast into children can be a struggle. However, students at Oak Brook were coming in every morning for their smoothies and they were loving them! To me, this was evidence that serving students healthy food does work and when done correctly, the students and school district both win.

Learning the Ropes in Production 

 Apart from visiting the elementary and middle schools, I have spent the majority of my time rotating between Parkway’s four high schools: North, South, Central and West. The high schools are unique in that they serve as the production centers for the entire district. Parkway’s Foodservice operates off of a satellite school system. As a Nutrition and Dietetics Major, I have learned about the four types of foodservice production systems (commissary, conventional, cook-chill and assembly serve), but now I got to see the commissary production style in action. This means, that not only do the high schools prepare food for all of their students, they also prepare lunch and breakfast for the schools in their region. The high schools are responsible for serving anywhere from ten to four satellite schools. This type of production system leads to busy mornings and busy afternoons. From a high school student’s perspective all looks calm, cool and collected from the front of the kitchen. However, behind the scenes, inside the kitchen, food is being rushed to the carriers for the middle and elementary schools, lists are being checked item by item, staff members are running around getting last minute items and the cardio workout for the morning has begun. In the afternoon, after all the schools have finished their lunch, the remaining food and all the dirty pans and utensils get delivered back to the high school and clean up begins.

Time for a Parkway Surprise 

Not only is it amazing to think about how many students the Parkway District feeds each day, but with such a large foodservice production also comes an incredible amount of food waste. Parkway repurposes their food waste by composting. Composting is an environmental friendly and sustainable way of recycling food back into nutrients that can fertilize the soil to grow new crops and plant life. After lunch, food that cannot be reused from the elementary and middle schools gets returned to the high school and all the food waste gets dumped into the yellow composting bins that gets taken to Blue Sky’s Recycling where the food waste is used within the community to grow new foods. Forecasting each days’ needs becomes essential in trying to minimize food waste and food cost. In attempts to control food waste, before composting is considered, the production manager assesses the returned food to evaluate whether or not the food can be repurposed into another meal. If the quality of the food would be compromised or the food does not meet: appearance, taste or temperature standards, food is then recycled into compost. Besides food waste, Parkway has moved to using compostable trays rather than the traditional Styrofoam ones. Signage all throughout the cafeterias at the schools aims to educate the students about which bin their trash can be thrown into to help Parkway in its sustainability efforts. The schools offer landfill options along with recycling and composting options.

Eye Opener…Foodservice is More Than Numbers

For anyone exploring a passion in Dietetics, let me tell you, Foodservice is more than numbers and foodservice math. When I was applying for internships, I was open minded, but pretty sure foodservice was not for me. I enjoyed wearing my white lab coat and being perceived by the general public as a physician. I loved talking to patients and feeling important with all the medical terminology. I thought working in foodservice would be a bunch of number crunching to calculate edible portions, cost per serving, figuring budgets and percent variance, but it was NOT. Foodservice is a lot of marketing and advertising to get students excited about the food being served. It is a lot of meetings with vendors, bidders, production staff, foodservice directors from other school districts, parents and students. It is a lot of communicating through meetings, emails, handouts, phone calls and interactions with students and administration. It is a lot of planning ahead to make sure menus make sense both logically and nutritionally and that floor plans for new kitchen areas and serving spaces flow properly. It is a lot of papers from inventory sheets, to production sheets to budget reports and financial reports from each facility. It is a LOT of work, but it is also a lot of FUN, especially, if you are someone who has a passion for education, people, the future, nutrition and food.

Last Thoughts 

I could go on and on about my experience at Parkway. I could brag about all the wonderful people I have met or all that I have learned about managing and working in the Food and Nutrition Services Department. This opportunity to work in the district that helped me to be where I am today, was humbling and nothing short of a sweet blessing. During my time here at Parkway, I have learned that Foodservice in schools is where preventative medicine occurs. Health is fostered by the school environment through teachers, nurses, foodservice staff, parents, administration, students, local organizations offering grants, local sustainability companies and ultimately everyone who recognizes the importance and power of food and nutrition. The cafeteria is the heart of the school because it brings students together, it nurtures students in more ways than one. Food is more than the nutrients it provides. As a girl with an endless passion for Education and Nutrition, I have learned that this is where it all begins and to a certain extent, this is where it all began for me five years ago.