What is a food coach??
There is a rise of people in the wellness industry at the moment called food coaches.
Why do we need another profession when this is something that is adequately covered by dieticians and nutritionists who spend between 3-4 years obtaining their qualification versus a two-day intensive workshop and 5 subjects studied via correspondence?
The rise of another profession in the health and fitness industry will lead to once again another watering down of the industry by providing small pieces of information to those in a short course format. This then leads to a number of people in the industry who have been given small pieces of information that now consider themselves to be experts having passed a course which upon examination of the units of competency is very generic and nowhere near the detail provided over four years at a University level.
So what can a food coach do? They can provide general advice and guidance and support to their clients. Now this is a great idea for those that need support but should this not be left to dieticians and nutritionists who spend more time in practice and working with people in a range of industry settings being assessed on more then a pass fail basis.
Examining what is covered in the two-day program leaves me very baffled as to how anyone could ever remotely learn anything in the core issues that are to be covered on those days. For example topics covered include what drives emotional overeating, how to apply motivational and NLP techniques to coach clients to success as well as learn in depth what nutrients we need and where to source them while finding out what processed food really does to us and how it’s disguised and Learn how to do vegetarian, gluten-free and dairy free the correct way among other topics.
Now in two days wow I must be slow, as that would take me months upon months to learn. I feel sorry for those who spend years at Universities around the world learning in depth nutrition and honing their skills time and time again to only be usurped by those have completed a course which seems to be designed to capitalise on the rise of people looking to make a quick buck out of an industry which is already has its share of cowboys and so called experts who have studied a small element of a subject area and now believe that they can fix the world of obesity and nutrition related illnesses.
Once again it comes back to the consumer and consumer education. Who would you trust your health and wellness to? Someone how has done a very very brief course skimming over topics or someone who has in depth experience and knowledge? The choice is yours it is your life but I know who I would be choosing.
