Kansas Statutes

Medical nutrition therapy is a medical treatment. Like other non-physician practitioners providing medical treatments, registered dietitian nutritionists generally can practice MNT because of licensure and certification laws, which provide authority for RDNs to provide this medical service. It is with this understanding that the Academy strongly recommends — unless there is an applicable exception or exemption or a state does not provide for licensure or certification requirements — practitioners hold licensure or certification in all states where the practitioner's clients or patients are located when services are provided.

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Statute and Regulation Details

Background info and terminology

Licensure (or Certification) by Endorsement of RDN Credential/Exemptions

N/A

Licensure (or Certification) by Reciprocity or Endorsement of Another License

65-5910. Licensure of person licensed in another state. The secretary may license, without examination, any person who is duly licensed in another state if the standards for licensure in such other state are not less than the standards for licensure under this act.

Temporary/Provisional Licensure (or Certification)

65-5907. Temporary license; requirements; expiration; renewal. (a) A temporary license to practice as a dietitian may be issued by the secretary upon the filing of an application, payment of the required application fee and submission of evidence of successful completion of the education requirements for licensure under this act.

(b) The temporary license shall expire six months from the date of issuance. The temporary license may be renewed for one period of not to exceed six months if the secretary determines that the applicant has failed to become licensed within the original period and if the applicant has paid the required renewal fee.

Exceptions/Exemptions

65-5912. Construction of act; exemptions. (a) Nothing in this act shall be construed to require any insurer or other entity regulated under chapter 40 of the Kansas Statutes Annotated or any other law of this state to provide coverage for or indemnify for the services provided by a person licensed under this act.

(b) So long as the following persons do not hold themselves out to the public to be dietitians or licensed dietitians or use these titles in combination with other titles or use the abbreviation L.D., or any combination thereof, nothing in this act shall be construed to apply:

(1) To any person licensed to practice the healing arts, a licensed dentist, a licensed dental hygienist, a licensed professional nurse, a licensed practical nurse, a licensed psychologist, a licensed masters level psychologist, a licensed pharmacist or an employee thereof, a physician assistant, a licensed professional counselor;

(2) to any unlicensed employee of a licensed adult care home or a licensed medical care facility as long as such person is working under the general direction of a licensee in the healing arts, nursing or a dietetic services supervisor as defined in regulations adopted by the secretary of health and environment or a consultant licensed under this act;

(3) to any dietetic technician or dietetic assistant;

(4) to any student enrolled in an approved academic program in dietetics, home economics, nutrition, education or other like curriculum, while engaged in such academic program;

(5) to prevent any person, including persons employed in health food stores, from furnishing nutrition information as to the use of food, food materials or dietary supplements, nor to prevent in any way the free dissemination of information or of literature as long as no individual engaged in such practices holds oneself out as being licensed under this act;

(6) to prohibit any individual from marketing or distributing food products, including dietary supplements, or to prevent any such person from providing information to customers regarding the use of such products;

(7) to prevent any employee of the state or a political subdivision who is employed in nutrition-related programs from engaging in activities included within the definition of dietetics practice as a part of such person's employment;

(8) to any person who performs the activities and services of a licensed dietitian or nutrition educator as an employee of the state or a political subdivision, an elementary or secondary school, an educational institution, a licensed institution, or a not-for-profit organization;

(9) to any person serving in the armed forces, the public health service, the veterans administration or as an employee of the federal government;

(10) to any person who has a degree in home economics insofar as the activities of such person are within the scope of such person's education and training;

(11) to any person who counsels or provides weight-control services as a part of a franchised or recognized weight-control program or a weight-control program that operates under the general direction of a person licensed to practice the healing arts, nursing or a person licensed under this act;

(12) to any person who is acting as a representative of a trade association and who engages in one or more activities included within the practice of dietetics as a representative of such association;

(13) to a licensed physical therapist who makes a dietetic or nutritional assessment or gives dietetic or nutritional advice in the normal practice of such person's profession or as otherwise authorized by law;

(14) to a dietitian licensed, registered or otherwise authorized to practice dietetics in another state who is providing consultation in this state;

(15) to any person conducting a teaching clinical demonstration which is carried out in an educational institution or an affiliated clinical facility or health care agency;

(16) to any person conducting classes or disseminating information relating to nonmedical nutrition; or

(17) to any person permitted to practice under K.S.A. 65-2872a, and amendments thereto.

(c) Nothing in this act shall be construed to interfere with the religious practices or observances of a bona fide religious organization, nor to prevent any person from caring for the sick in accordance with tenets and practices of any church or religious denomination which teaches reliance upon spiritual means through prayer for healing.

Updated August 2023

Disclaimer: This page is not intended to constitute legal or career advice. All information, content and materials are for general informational purposes only and may not represent the most up-to-date legal or other information. This website contains links to other third-party websites, which are only for the convenience of the reader, user or browser. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and its members do not recommend or endorse the contents of the third-party sites, nor does such information necessarily constitute a legally binding interpretation of state policy. The ultimate authority to interpret each state's requirements is the licensing board or agency of that state.