OBJECTIVE: This study made a historical analysis of the 70 years of the profession of dietician in Brazil, attempted to analyze the increase in the number of undergraduate nutrition courses and dieticians in the country and analyzed the identity of the Brazilian dietician in the current context. METHODS: The empirical basis was based on the number of professionals and courses offered by the Federal Council of Dieticians and on the Federal Council of Dieticians research Insertion of Professional Dieticians in Brazil, done in 2005. RESULTS: There were 391 courses of nutrition in Brazil (324 private and 67 public), enrolling 49,185 students yearly in August 2009. In June 2009, there were 60,554 registered dieticians in the country, resulting in a ratio of one dietician per 3,162 inhabitants. According to the 2005 Federal Council of Dieticians' research, Brazilian dieticians have the following profile: 96.5% are females, 79.4% aged 20 to 40 years, 53.6% are single, 79.1% are Caucasian, 41.7% were working in clinical nutrition, 32.2% in food services, 9.4% in academia, 8.8% in public health, 4.1% in sports nutrition and 3.7% in the food industry. CONCLUSION: The analysis shows a steep increase in number of courses and professionals and diversification of the dietician's areas of expertise. Additionally, within the seven major areas of expertise recognized by the Federal Council of Dieticians, there is a major process of division of their work objects. It is likely that changes in the labor market and work areas will take place in the near future because of the greater number of professionals in the market and their geographical redistribution.
Nutritionist; Health occupations; Nutritional
