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Family health can mean caring for your spouse, kids, parents, grandparents, and pets. Get advice on marriage, parenting, stress management, and more.

A healthy family is a happy family, but what exactly is family health? It is more than just eating right and exercising, though these are crucial factors. It also encompasses physical, emotional, and financial issues. Family health extends beyond your kids to your spouse, parents and grandparents, and even your family pet. Here, you will get the information you need to safeguard your loved ones and keep your family unit strong.

Family Health Management

A key component of managing your family’s health is mastering the art of multitasking (or juggling). Kids, spouse, job, house, aging parents, That is a lot of important balls to keep up in the air. Here, we look at the daily strains placed upon families today and offer advice on maintaining a healthy family unit and safe home. Get stress management strategies, advice on rekindling the romance in your marriage, tips for talking to kids about a down economy, fun ideas for family vacations, healthy eating habits, and more.

Registered Dietician

In Ontario and British Columbia there is a publicly funded service for residents of that province that offers free telephone access to Registered Dietitians (RD)

In Ontario call toll free 1-877-510-5102 Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm ET. Evening hours Tuesday and Thursday to 9 pm ET.

In British Columbia call toll free 8-1-1. Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm

RDs at these call centre services will provide an answer to your nutrition and healthy eating questions. This service is not meant to replace advice from your medical doctor or individual counseling with a Registered Dietitian.

In other provinces, if you have general questions on nutrition, contact a dietician in a hospital, local department of health, or your physician

What is the Difference Between a Dietician and a Nutritionist?

The title “Registered Dietician”, “Professional Dietician”, and “Dietician” are protected by law — through provincial legislation — so that only qualified practitioners who have met education qualifications can use that title.

Dieticians who have met national standards for education and training and who are members of the provincial regulatory bodies can use one of the following designations — RD, PDt or RDt (or the French equivalent Dt.P.).

A dietician is a health professional who has a Bachelor’s degree, specializing in foods and nutrition, as well as a period of practical training in a hospital or community setting. Many dieticians further their knowledge by pursuing a Master’s or Doctoral degree.

Dieticians are members of a provincial regulated profession that have Public Protection as their mandate. Dieticians are held accountable for their conduct and care they provide.

The term Nutritionist is not protected by law in all provinces so people with different levels of training and knowledge can all themselves a “Nutritionist”. The title “Nutritionist” is protected for Dieticians in some provinces and dieticians do use the title “nutritionists”. As the term “nutritionist’ is not a protected title in some provinces, you should contact your provincial regulatory body to ensure that you are receiving services from a dietician.

A variety of titles have been used by unqualified people to describe their involvement in nutrition related practice. Many use the term “registered” with a variation of “nutrition” as a title. You should be careful to ensure that the person is a qualified nutrition professional. You can contact Dieticians of Canada or the Provincial regulatory body to obtain a list of Dieticians in your area.

Typically dieticians working in a hospital or health care institution will have a job title that uses the term “dietician” and will focus on clinical care of the patient or manage the food service. Dieticians working in community settings will typically have a job title that uses “nutritionist” and focus on healthy eating and wellness at various stages of the lifecycle.