§ 43-44-01 — Definitions

As used in this chapter, unless the context or subject matter otherwise requires:
1. "Board" means the board of dietetic practice.
2. "Board for certification of nutrition specialists" means the entity that serves as the
credentialing agency for certified nutrition specialists.
3. "Certified nutrition specialist" means an individual certified as a nutrition specialist by
the board for certification of nutrition specialists that authorizes the individual to use
the title "certified nutrition specialist" and the abbreviation "CNS" to indicate the
individual is a certified nutrition specialist.
4. "Commission on dietetic registration" means the credentialing agency for the academy
of nutrition and dietetics.
5. "Degree" means a degree received from a college or university that was a United
States regionally accredited body recognized by the council for higher education
accreditation and the United States department of education at the time the degree
was received or validated foreign equivalent.
6. "Dietetics" means the integration, application, and communication of practice
principles derived from the food, nutrition, social, business, and basic sciences to
achieve and maintain the optimal nutrition status of an individual. The primary function
of the practice of dietetics is the provision of medical nutrition therapy.
7. "Evidence-based" or "evidence-based practice" means an approach to health care
through which health practitioners use the best evidence available, to make decisions
for individuals, groups, and populations.
8. "Foreign practitioner" means an individual who holds and maintains a license in good
standing to engage in the practice of dietetics and nutrition in a state or jurisdiction
other than this state and who is not the subject of a pending disciplinary action in any
state or jurisdiction.
9. a. "General nonmedical nutrition information" may include information on any of the
following:
(1) Principles of good nutrition, menu planning, and food preparation.
(2) Food that should be included in the normal daily diet.
(3) The essential nutrients needed by the human body.
(4) The recommended amounts of essential nutrients in the human body.
(5) The actions of nutrients in the human body.
(6) The effects of deficiencies or excesses of nutrients in the human body.
(7) Foods, herbs, and supplements that are good sources of essential nutrients
in the human body.
b. The term does not include the provision of medical nutrition therapy.
10. "General supervision" means the qualified supervisor is onsite and present where
nutrition care services are provided or is immediately available to the individual being
supervised by means of electronic communications and maintains continual
involvement in the appropriate aspects of patient care, and has primary responsibility
for all nutrition care services rendered by an individual.
11. "Licensed nutritionist" means an individual licensed as a nutritionist under this chapter
who may be referred to or hold oneself out as a nutritionist.
12. "Licensed registered dietitian" means an individual licensed as a dietitian under this
chapter who may be referred to or hold oneself out as a dietitian, dietitian nutritionist,
nutritionist, or a dietician.
13. "Medical nutrition therapy" means the provision of nutrition care services for the
treatment or management of a disease or medical condition. The term includes the
provision of any part or all of the following services:
a. Interpreting anthropometric, biochemical, clinical, and dietary data in acute and
chronic disease states and recommending or ordering nutrient needs based on
the dietary data, including tube feedings and parenteral nutrition.

b. Food and nutrient counseling, including food and prescription drug interactions.
c. Developing and managing food service operations, including operations for the
management or treatment of disease or medical conditions, with the primary
function of nutrition care or recommending or ordering therapeutic diets.
d. Medical weight control.
14. "Medical weight control" means medical nutrition therapy for the purpose of reducing,
maintaining, or gaining weight.
15. "Nonmedical weight control" means the provision of services for the purpose of
reducing, maintaining, or gaining weight which does not constitute the treatment of a
disease or medical condition. The term includes weight control services for healthy
population groups to achieve or maintain a healthy weight.
16. "Nutrition" means the science of food and nutrients, including the action, interaction,
and balance of food and nutrients in relation to health and disease and the process by
which humans ingest, absorb, transport, utilize, and excrete food substances. The
primary function of the practice of nutrition is the provision of medical nutrition therapy.
17. "Nutrition assessment" means the systematic process of obtaining, verifying, and
interpreting biochemical, anthropometric, physical, nutrigenomic, and dietary data to
make decisions about the nature and cause of nutrition-related problems. The mere
collection of data itself does not constitute nutrition assessment. The term includes an
ongoing, dynamic process that:
a. Involves an initial data collection and a reassessment and analysis of client or
community needs; and
b. Provides the foundation for nutrition diagnosis and nutritional recommendations,
including enteral and parenteral nutrition.
18. a. "Nutrition care services" means the provision of any part or all of the following
services within a systematic process:
(1) Assessing and evaluating the nutritional needs of individuals and groups,
and determining resources and constraints in the practice setting, including
ordering laboratory tests to check and track nutrition status, creating dietary
plans and orders, and monitoring the effectiveness of the plans and orders.
(2) Establishing priorities, goals, and objectives that meet nutritional needs and
are consistent with available resources and constraints.
(3) Providing nutrition counseling in health and disease.
(4) Developing, implementing, and managing nutrition care systems.
(5) Evaluating, making changes in, and maintaining appropriate standards of
quality in food and nutrition services.
(6) Ordering therapeutic diets.
b. The term does not include the retail sale of food products or vitamins, the giving
of general nonmedical nutrition information, or the providing of nonmedical weight
control by unlicensed individuals.
19. "Nutrition counseling" means the advice and assistance provided by a licensed
registered dietitian or licensed nutritionist to an individual or group on nutrition intake
by integrating information from the nutrition assessment with information on food and
other sources of nutrient and meal preparations consistent with cultural background,
socioeconomic status, and therapeutic needs.
20. "Nutrition diagnosis" means identifying and labeling nutritional problems managed and
treated by a licensed registered dietitian or licensed nutritionist. The term does not
include the medical differential diagnosis of the health status of an individual.
21. "Nutrition intervention" means purposefully planned actions and nutrition counseling
intended to positively change a nutrition-related behavior, risk factor, environmental
condition, or aspect of the health status for an individual.
22. "Nutrition monitoring and evaluation" means identifying patient outcomes relevant to a
nutrition diagnosis and comparing the outcomes with the patient's previous health
status, intervention goals, or reference standards to determine the progress made in
achieving desired outcomes of nutrition care and whether planned interventions should
be continued or revised.

23. "Onsite supervision" means the qualified supervisor is present in the department or
facility or virtual platform at which nutrition care services are provided, is immediately
available to the individual being supervised and maintains continual involvement in the
appropriate aspects of patient care, and has primary responsibility for all nutrition care
services rendered by an individual.
24. "Practice of dietetics and nutrition" means the integration and application of scientific
principles derived from the study of food, nutrition, biochemistry, metabolism,
nutrigenomics, physiology, food management, and behavioral and social sciences in
achieving and maintaining health throughout the life span and in providing nutrition
care services in person and via telehealth, including medical nutrition therapy, for the
purpose of disease management and prevention, or to treat or rehabilitate an illness,
injury, or condition.
25. "Provisional license" means a license granted to an applicant who has submitted the
information required in section 43-44-12 and applied for examination but has not
completed the examination successfully yet.
26. "Qualified supervisor" means:
a. If supervising the provision of medical nutrition therapy, an individual who is:
(1) A certified nutrition specialist or a registered dietitian nutritionist;
(2) A licensed nutritionist who has met the education and experience
qualifications under section 43-44-07, a licensed dietitian nutritionist, or a
licensed registered dietitian; or
(3) A health care provider licensed or otherwise authorized under the laws of
any state to provide nutrition care services to treat or manage a disease or
medical condition.
b. If supervising the provision of nutrition care services that do not constitute
medical nutrition therapy, an individual who either meets the requirements of
paragraph 1 of subdivision a or an individual with at least three years of clinical
nutrition experience who holds a master's or doctoral degree with a major course
of study in dietetics, human nutrition, foods and nutrition, community nutrition,
public health nutrition, naturopathic medicine, nutrition education, nutrition,
nutrition science, clinical nutrition, applied clinical nutrition, nutrition counseling,
nutrition and functional medicine, nutritional biochemistry, nutrition and integrative
health, or an equivalent course of study as approved by the board.
27. "Registered dietitian" or "registered dietitian nutritionist" means an individual registered
as a dietitian or a dietitian nutritionist with the commission on dietetic registration which
authorizes the individual to use the title "registered dietitian nutritionist" or "registered
dietitian" and the abbreviation "RDN" or "RD".
28. "Telehealth" means the use of electronic information and telecommunications
technologies to provide services under this chapter to support clinical health care,
patient and professional health-related education, public health, and health
administration between a licensee in one location and an individual in another location.
29. "Therapeutic diet" means a diet intervention prescribed by a physician or other
authorized nonphysician practitioner which provides food or nutrients via oral, enteral,
or parenteral routes, or a combination thereof, as part of treatment of disease or
diagnosed clinical conditions to modify, eliminate, decrease, or increase identified
micronutrients and macronutrients in the diet.