A study of the roles and duties of dietitians in County Bureaus of Education and elementary and middle school

This study was conducted to understand the roles, duties, and current working status of dietitians in county bureaus of education and elementary and middle schools. First, the Delphi technique was used to collect experts' opinions on the roles and duties of dietitians in county bureaus of education and public elementary and middle schools. Self-administered questionnaires were then mailed to all the dietitians working in County Bureau of Education (n = 7) and public elementary and junior high schools (n = 113). The response rates were 71.4% (n = 5) and 69.0% (n = 78), respectively. The results showed that the roles and duties recognized by dietitians in both county bureau of education and schools were similar to the experts' viewpoints. However, some of the routine work of dietitians was not considered necessary by the experts, especially work in "administration". On the other hand, less than 50% of the county bureau of education dietitians fulfilled the work of "nutritional survey" and "conducting research", while less than 50% of school dietitians fulfilled the work of "nutritional screening and counseling in school" and "inspection of competitive foods sold in school", which were evaluated as important duties by experts. Results suggest that the current job assignments of dietitian in both county bureaus of education and elementary and middle schools should be reevaluated. At the same time, the importance and status of dietitians in elementary and middle schools should be recognized by government education authorities. Thereafter the job position of dietitian can be standardized in both county bureaus of education and in elementary and middle schools.