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.