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Nutritionist
Pro The Hearst Corporation 800-633-3453 email: softsales@firstdatabank.com Grade Levels: College, Graduate,
Professional Subject: Nutrition Management Reviewed
by, Margaret Dolan, Family and Consumer Science Teacher and Graduate Student,
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Software Description
Nutritionist Pro
is a nutrition-analysis software program, which allows professionals in the
nutrition, education, and food service industry to find fast, reliable
nutritional information. This is a comprehensive food database, which enables
users to view client’s dietary needs, while using the recipe and menu analysis
for creating reports and storing information on the systems database.
The program is a simplified version of Nutritionist Five,
making client reports easier to read and access. Additional improvements include the weight
and exercise plans, which now work together for easier recommendations for
potential patients and clients. The
streamlining of the software also makes adding personal nutrient goals easier
for individual or groups.
Accuracy of Content
The database boasts over 17,000 unique foods and
ingredients, with access to over 600 recipes.
Using the most up to date analysis from researched sources, the software
maintains its high level of competency with references and support
numbers. The content is most appropriate
for those individuals and businesses in the health care, dietetics, and food
industries.
To review this content on its accuracy is a difficult
task. The references used are numerous,
and the databases extensive. However, the company takes pride of its more than
two decades of published work in the diet and nutrition field. Therefore, their commitment and expertise in
this area have with stood many years of use and reviews.
Technical Quality
Students and professionals alike can use and adapt this
program to their individual needs.
Navigation is easy and one can use the toolbar, menu bar,
navigation bar, or mouse/keyboard shortcuts to maneuver around the program.
The content is easy to read, and new color graphics add eye
appeal and simplicity to the program. The language is unbiased and familiar to
those in the relative fields of interest.
A good understanding of Windows and its basic operations is
important to know before using Nutritionist
Pro. Installation is easy and the
installer is walked through all of the steps with a help icon readily
available.
Use of Technology
Nutritionist Pro has
used up to date technology to improve on its original design. The new software is faster and easier to use
because of it’s newly designed Windows-based
screens.
Nutritionist Pro
continues to update its databank daily with close links to the USDA, the Good
Housekeeping development team and their staff of registered dieticians. Allowing the program to
grow with current technology, rather than becoming obsolete.
Role of the Student
This is an unique and powerful
program. Students interested in this
field will find it to be a useful and important tool for developing their own
programs. They can add and modify an unlimited
quantity of food items and recipes.
The software is controlled solely by the user, making it
highly interactive. Students can use the
program for research, development and analysis.
The software can easily be used in the area of student
assessment. Students could develop their own program for wellness, based on a
weight management and exercise program, and develop a plan based on their own
individual needs.
Students could work with small groups of people performing
analysis as if they were actual clients.
The program is of a professional caliber, which would heighten the bar
for academic challenges in the high school and college curriculum.
Role of the Teacher
The teacher’s role in this particular software program is
limited to the experience they have with the program itself. Students may need monitoring to understand
the basics of the program, however, the tutorial and help guide give step by
step instructions for the software.
Students and teachers should be familiar with Windows and
how the screens operate. Modifications
to the program can be added to specific areas of interest. For example, in area of recipe development, a
teacher could add a specific ingredient or item to the menu. Additional teacher manuals and evaluation
tools are not components of this program.
Classroom Usage
Nutritionist Pro
would be a valuable piece of software in the nutrition, medical, or culinary
classroom. Students could be allowed
complete access to its database and analysis features. Whether working in small groups or as an
individual on a nutrition-based project, this software is classroom friendly.
Keep in mind that this program is used widely on the college and professional level, it could easily complement a high school health or
culinary curriculums.
A few ideas that come to mind as a teacher of Culinary Arts,
would to be create project based learning assessments using Nutritionist Pro. Students could create a recipe or menu
template for persons with special dietary needs and create reports based on their
findings. The class or individuals may enter and keep track of their own
personal dietary goals and weight management throughout a semester or academic
year, then report on their results as an alternative assessment.
Critical Summary
I feel that Nutritionist
Pro is a terrific tool for professionals and students alike. This software is easier to use than its
former self, Nutritionist Five. Many of
the “bugs” from the previous software have been ironed out, and the
streamlining has truly improved the ease and speed of the software program.
Most importantly the commitment by the developer to keep the knowledge database
current and highly accurate is still their number one priority.
One draw back to the new software is the inability to
upgrade the older versions, Nutritionist
Five, or IV, without purchasing the new software. Users will have to “start clean” rather than
transfer data to the new system. The
feeling from the developer is the time needed to transfer would likely exceed
the time to start new. I haven’t had
enough experience with either Nutritionist
Five, or the Pro to make a stand
on this issue.
Overall rating 8
The software is an excellent tool for the food industry
professional, or health professional.
The software is most usable in these industries or at the college level
nutrition courses. Having limited time,
it was hard to evaluate how well the software program truly works. It was user friendly and with only a Windows
background I could easy enter and add data and set up “mock” clients to work
with. The extensive database was
impressive, and any additional food items needed were easily entered into the
system.
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