The Association for Nutrition derives directly from work carried out by the Nutrition Society, which has, over several decades, laid the foundation for professional practice in Nutrition. The need formally to establish nutrition as a profession was articulated by our Founding Patron of AfN, the eminent Professor John Waterlow CMG FRS, in his visionary 1981 Boyd Orr Lecture.

The Association for Nutrition governs the UK Voluntary Register of Nutritionists (UKVRN) which includes nutritionists employed in healthcare, academia, retailing, manufacturing, research, sports & exercise and animal nutrition.

The main purpose for Association for Nutrition is to:

1. establish the mechanisms of governance for those working within the nutrition workforce who may not otherwise be regulated to protect the public and promote health.
2. establish the processes through which it will be possible to enhance capacity and competency of all members of the nutrition workforce through professional support and ethical stewardship;

Ensuring public safety and pressing for better public health through improved nutrition also comes under the Association’s remit.