As we move into 2021, around 70% of Australia's adult population is considered overweight or obese. This is largely down to the poor diet that many Australians have, and the impact of the Coronavirus on restricting our social movement has exacerbated the problem even further.
Once in this cycle, it can be challenging for many to get out of their bad habits on their own. The more out of shape someone gets, the more likely they'll do less exercise, and the issue grows and grows, leading to severe health issues further down the road. It leads to many seeking professional health advice.
This creates a high demand for nutritionists, as people turn to professional help to live healthier lifestyles. In tandem with the fitness industry, nutritionists can guide people in their eating habits to ensure they get all the vitamins and minerals they need in a structured manner. By studying nutrition courses, you can help others and expand your mind in the world of nutrition.
In this blog, we look at the reasons behind this growing issue whilst also glancing at the career possibilities that online nutrition training provides. The fact is that it's possible to pursue a rewarding role in the industry by fitting your study around your current work obligations. You may also consider personal training courses.
The Poor Diet & Lifestyle Of Australian Citizens
As is the case in much of the Western world, the diet and lifestyle of the average Australian seem to get worse with each passing year. According to recent government figures, less than 10% of adults in Australia consume the recommended daily amount of fresh vegetables regularly, which was reflected across all the major food groups.
A similar amount of Australians are not eating the right amount of fruit, grains or lean meats in their diet. These figures were also taken from a large surveyed group, so they reflect the state of people across Australia. Some point to socio-economic reasons for this, and whilst they play a part, it's not the main determining factor.
When the highest socio-economic group was compared with the lowest, the percentage of Australian adults that didn't eat enough fruit and vegetables was only a few per cent. This means that other factors, such as the consumption of convenience foods and poor nutritional knowledge, were almost certainly at play, and the fact that more people from all groups are seeking the help of nutritionists certainly bears this out.
Poor Diet Often Leads To Poor Health
The notion that poor diet is linked to poor health is certainly not a new one, and it's not something that you usually need to take online nutrition training to be aware of. You can suffer so many short- and long-term effects from poor nutrition, with tiredness, stress, lack of concentration and bad moods being just some of the immediate symptoms.
When you neglect your body's nutrition for the long term, you risk making yourself vulnerable to an entire raft of serious illnesses. Being overweight is bad enough, but the effects are far more wide-ranging than how you look and feel, with high cholesterol, some types of cancer, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, tooth decay and even depression among the list of problems that you can encounter.
Bad eating habits can also become amplified in the mind over time. Eating disorders of all types can occur due to dietary imbalance, representing yet another way in which poor nutrition can majorly impact your life. The person who first said, "You are what you eat", certainly had it right, as everything you consume will either help or hinder your health.
It can be challenging, but with a nutritionist's help, you become familiar with how to change your diet to include much more of what keeps you lean and healthy.
The Modern Paradigm Of 'Fad' Diets
If there's one thing that a nutritionist will tell you, it's that if you want to lose weight and be healthier, you must make fundamental changes to your daily routine. In the modern world, we all seem to want everything right now, leading to the 'quick-fix alternatives that fall into the 'Fad' diet category. The right path involves sustainability - not fast results.
Plans like the Cambridge and Atkins Diet are cited as the best and the only way to lose weight and keep it off. However, the truth is very different. These plans either call for ultra-austere calorie intake or cutting entire food groups out of your daily diet to achieve the weight loss you require. They fail for a good reason - they're unsustainable and often quite unhealthy.
They can work and produce excellent results, but many people put the weight back on when their eating returns to normal. That's because eliminating entire groups of foods like carbs makes it very difficult to remain faithful to plans like these, and when they do work, you can spend a lot of your time hungry.
Not only are some fad diets patently inadequate for you because they don’t account for your nutritional needs, but they leave you much more susceptible to temptation.
The Effect Of Poor Diet On Mental Health
The psychological effect of a poor diet also cannot be underestimated. In addition to the depression that obesity and poor health can bring, scientific research has proven a link between mental health and the intake of processed foods. Often containing refined sugars and saturated fats, there's a defined link between their over-consumption and declining mental health.
What is leading more and more parents across the country to call on the assistance of a nutritionist is the importance of a good diet for brain development during a child's early years. Cognitive development can be affected by a bad daily diet, and the damage done in childhood can stay with a person throughout their adult life.
Of course, many other factors are at play with mental health, so diet alone is not the only driving factor here. The influence of good health and effective weight management is considerable, and it's something a nutritionist can help with. It can be challenging to make the required changes as an adult, so instilling the proper habits early on in life can be incredibly beneficial.
Interested In A Career As A Nutritionist?
Online nutrition courses can be beneficial for individuals and parents to gain the knowledge they need to protect themselves and their families. Still, it also offers an opportunity to enjoy a rewarding role in the industry. Many career paths are open to you when you train as a nutritionist; as we've already said, it's an industry that's booming!
Study a short online course n nutrition, and you open yourself up to working as a nutritionist, in the health science field or as a health and fitness coach. Then there's the naturopathy route that lets you take a holistic view to help people stay healthy, and of course, you could always work for yourself.
It's a well-paid field, too, with average salaries in the region of $80k annually. No surprise then that we believe that it's going to be one of the most popular career choices in the coming years. You're much more likely to live a healthy life, too, so you present the right image to your customers.
Online Nutrition Training - For You & Your Career
So, as you can see from what we've covered, poor diet is a problem that affects pretty much all of us in some way, shape or form. The demand for nutritionists is exploding because people need help to make the necessary changes to their diets and live healthier lives.
An online nutrition course is excellent for educating yourself personally to make the right decisions for you and your learning. It also represents an opening into one of Australia's most exciting and fast-growing industries that offers rewarding work-life and high pay rates.
The great thing about online training is that it can be taken at a time and pace that suits you. At Online Courses Australia, we even offer the ability to pay for your online nutrition training in instalments. Our cheap online nutrition training short courses range will give you the base knowledge to implement on a personal level and to see if this is the right career direction.
If you'd like to know more about anything we've discussed here or you'd like to see the entire range of professional training we offer across a wide range of sectors, visit us online at www.onlinecoursesaustralia.edu.au, where you will find everything you need to know.
If you need any help signing up for our online nutrition courses or want more detailed information about the courses we offer, call us today on 1300 611 404, and we'll do our very best to provide you with the answers and guidance you need. Gain the skills and knowledge you need with an online nutrition course in Australia.
