Nutrition and Dietetics: online course with internship agreement
Nutrition and Dietetics teaches you to run a nutritional assessment, calculate BMR and daily energy needs, read EFSA and WHO Europe guidance, and judge the evidence behind 'superfood' claims. It also teaches you to support clients on GLP-1 medication and to recognise when a case belongs with a registered dietitian. It is aimed at aspiring nutrition and wellness coaches. Study 100 % online for 180 days, with an internship agreement included, for €200.
- 180 days of access
- 100 % online, at your own pace
- Level: beginner · No prior experience required
- Assessment: 10 quizzes (50 questions) and a final project
- Internship agreement included
- Certificate with a verifiable QR code
- Languages: Spanish, English, French
- Price: €200
Who it is for
- People preparing for non-clinical nutrition or wellness coaching roles
- Fitness and sports professionals who advise everyday athletes on fuelling and hydration
- Career changers comparing the UK/Ireland Level 4 Nutrition Coach and US Nutrition Assistant routes
- Coaches who need clear referral rules for clients with diabetes, GI disorders or allergies
What do you need to start?
Prior knowledge
- No prior knowledge of nutrition is needed
- Comfort with basic arithmetic for energy and protein calculations from body weight
- Ability to read guidance documents and job postings in English
Software and equipment
- A computer with an internet connection
- No specialist nutrition software is required by the course materials
What you'll be able to do
- Conduct a nutritional assessment using anthropometry, body composition and a dietary history before recommending anything
- Classify a client's food diary by food group and count portions the way official guidance does
- Calculate BMR and TDEE, then set a calorie target with a floor tied to BMR
- Explain plateaus and rising hunger to clients as predictable hormonal responses, without jargon
- Grade the evidence behind a superfood claim, separating lab mechanisms from human clinical outcomes
- Translate EAT-Lancet 2.0 into concrete shopping and meal advice for a client
- Build a GLP-1 support plan with a weight-based protein range and resistance-training habit
- Identify the exact point at which a case must be referred to a registered dietitian
Skills you will practise
- Nutritional assessment
- Anthropometry
- BMR and TDEE calculation
- Food group analysis
- EFSA and WHO Europe guidelines
- NOVA classification
- EAT-Lancet 2.0
- Sports hydration and fuelling
- GLP-1 client support
- Referral to registered dietitian
Syllabus
- Nutritional assessment in practice — How to gather a client's anthropometry, body composition and dietary history in a structured first session before any recommendation is made.
- Food groups and composition — Assigning each item in a food diary to its food group and counting what genuinely qualifies under official guidance rules.
- Energy balance and metabolism for client counselling — Estimating BMR and TDEE with a standard equation and activity factors, setting safe targets and explaining plateaus without blaming willpower.
- Functional foods and phytonutrients — Naming the phytochemical class behind a trend, weighing whole-food versus supplement evidence, and flagging interactions or pregnancy for referral.
- Official dietary guidelines and the ultra-processed food debate — Which bodies stand behind guidance (EFSA, WHO Europe), using national food guides as tools, and discussing NOVA and ultra-processed food accurately.
- Nutrition across the life course — Nutritional priorities and coaching limits in pregnancy, infancy and weaning, adolescence and older adulthood.
- Applied clinical dietetics — Habit-support actions a coach can offer for diabetes, thyroid, GI disorders, allergies, intolerances and cancer-risk conversations, and when to refer.
- Sports and performance nutrition for the everyday athlete — Fuelling and individual weigh-in hydration arithmetic for amateur endurance athletes, plus how coaching credentials such as NASM CNC compare.
- Sustainable and planetary health nutrition: EAT-Lancet 2.0 — The Planetary Health Diet, food security dimensions, household food waste and the EU policy shift from Farm to Fork.
- Professional practice: scope, credentials and GLP-1 medications — Matching roles to credentialing routes from job postings and building GLP-1 support plans that never touch medication dose or timing.
Internship agreement
An intern with this course could support a nutrition or wellness coaching service by taking dietary histories and basic anthropometric measurements, reviewing client food diaries by food group, or preparing client materials based on official food guides and EAT-Lancet 2.0 shopping advice. In sports or fitness settings, tasks could include drafting fuelling and hydration guidance for amateur athletes. The learner finds and proposes the host company; the school issues the internship agreement.
The internship can run at the same time as the course, within the 180 days of access.
Frequently asked questions
Will the Nutrition and Dietetics course make me a registered dietitian?
No. The Nutrition and Dietetics course prepares you for non-clinical nutrition and wellness coaching work, and repeatedly marks the line where a case belongs with a registered dietitian or another clinician. It also explains, without awarding them, how the UK/Ireland Level 4 Nutrition Coach qualification, the US Nutrition Assistant route (CDM, CFPP) and NASM's Certified Nutrition Coach differ, so you can read a job posting and see which credential it expects.
Which guidelines, frameworks and methods does the course actually cover?
You work with standard BMR equations and activity-factor tables for energy needs, official guidance from EFSA and WHO Europe, national food guides such as NHS materials, the NOVA classification for ultra-processed food, and EAT-Lancet 2.0 for sustainable eating, including the EU's 2025 Vision for Agriculture and Food. The course also covers GLP-1 medications in counselling, including protein ranges calculated from body weight.
Is referring a client to a dietitian a sign I'm not good enough as a coach?
The course treats it the other way round: referral is the correct default whenever a case involves medication dosing, insulin, an active gut flare-up, pregnancy-related supplement questions or red-flag symptoms. Experience or a large client list never extends a non-clinical coach's scope to dosage, timing or stopping a medication. What you learn is precisely which habit-support actions you can still offer alongside that referral.
What could I realistically do during the internship with this course?
You could help with first-session assessments (dietary history, body measurements), analyse food diaries against official portion rules, prepare client handouts on food guides or sustainable shopping, or draft hydration and fuelling notes for amateur athletes in a fitness setting. You find the host company yourself; the school issues the internship agreement and its annex, and the company signs electronically, usually within 1–2 working days.
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Content updated: 07/10/2026