From behind the scenes to the forefront: dietitians' ambition to highlight their expertise

China established a registered dietitian system about a decade ago and has trained many registered dietitians. However, no studies have yet assessed dietitians' job satisfaction. This study aims to fill this gap by providing a comprehensive evaluation of their job satisfaction, professional identity and personal accomplishment.

This study conducted an online survey across 30 provincial-level administrative divisions in China, targeting nutritional professionals, including nutritional doctors and dietitians. The questionnaire was developed based on internationally recognised scales, such as the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire, translated into Chinese. The study examined differences between nutritional doctors and dietitians in terms of work contents, satisfaction with nutrition-related policies and systems, job satisfaction, professional identity and personal accomplishment. Furthermore, multiple linear regression models were applied to identify factors influencing job satisfaction among nutritional professionals.

A total of 1416 nutritional professionals participated in the study, including 656 nutritional doctors and 760 dietitians. Significant occupational differences were observed in work contents and satisfaction with nutrition-related policies and systems. The Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire scores were 55.37±18.49 for nutritional doctors and 46.77±14.54 for dietitians, indicating significantly lower job satisfaction among dietitians. Similar trends were also observed in professional identity and personal accomplishment. Factors influencing job satisfaction among nutritional professionals included holding management positions, the frequency of engaging in nutrition consultations and others.

In this study, dietitians reported lower levels of job satisfaction, professional identity and personal accomplishment compared with nutritional doctors. Implementing more favourable policies could enhance the professional standing of dietitians, shifting their role from behind-the-scenes support to more prominent positions. Such advancements may improve their job motivation and enable them to better address the growing challenges of nutrition-related diseases.