Introduction:

In Spain, the Dietitian-Nutritionist (DN) is considered a health professional according to Law 44/2003 on the Organization of Health Professions (LOHP); its qualifying qualification for the exercise of the profession is included in Real Decreto 433/1998, of March 20. However, this group has encountered serious problems to carry out their activity, especially due to the possible usurpation of their functions by other professionals. Objectives: to describe the public profile of professionals who call themselves DN, Dietitian, and Nutritionist without having the qualification in the autonomous community of the Canary Islands.

Material and Methods:

Exploratory and descriptive study of information collected on websites and social networks in the period from January 2015 to December 2019. Any professional / person who self-name and advertise as DN / Dietitian / Nutritionist are included without having the corresponding degree (Degree in Human Nutrition and Dietetics).

Results:

244 professionals are advertised as Nutritionist (66.1%), DN (30.9%), and Dietitian (3%), without having the corresponding degree in the autonomous community of the Canary Islands. Of the total profiles located, 90.57% have a university degree and, in particular, 71.72% correspond to health professions.

Conclusions:

It is necessary the intervention of the professional associations of DN in collaboration with the competent public institutions given the high number of professionals who do not comply with the LOHP of 2003, and the Order CIN/730/2009, when denominating with a degree for which no they are professionally enabled.

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