Country Information Sheet American Overseas Dietetic Association by Maria Gustafsson, R.D.

Sweden Sweden, officially the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula. Sweden has land borders with Norway and and is connected to by a bridge. Sweden is the third largest country in Europe. The population is only 9.2 million and therefore Sweden has a very low population density. The capital is and the second largest city is Gotenburg and the third largest city is Malmö. Sweden has been a member of European Union since 1995. The official language is Swedish. Sweden is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of government and highly developed economy. It is mandatory to go to school 1st to 9th grade therefore there is no illiteracy. The religion is mainly Protestant Christian. Sweden was the first country to become all Protestant in 1593. Majority of the population do not practice religion on a regular basis. Due to immigration Sweden also have a small Catholic, Jewish and Muslin population. Matches, dynamite and propellers are some of the famous inventions from Sweden. Compaines such as Volvo, Saab Scania, Ericsson, Tetra Pak, Absolute Vodka, AstraZeneca and AGA are Swedish by origin. Sweden is also famous for the Nobel Prize, Astrid Lindgren author of Pippi Longstocking, ABBA, actors Ingrid Bergman, Greta Gardo, Stellan Skarsgård, Lena Olin and directors and Lasse Hellström. The climate in Sweden is really seasonal and due to the Gulf stream in the Atlantic Sweden has typical cold winters and warm summers. At wintertime (Dec-Feb) temperature is about between -20 and -10 degrees C in the north and between -10 and +5 degrees C in the south. The northern part has snow most of the wintertime while the southern parts only have snow now and then. In the summertime (June-Aug) the temperature is between +15-25 degrees C but it can get above +30 degrees C in all of Sweden during summertime. And just for some extra information there are no polar bears in Sweden 

National dietetic associations and associates The Swedish Dietetic Association is called Dietisternas Riksförbund (DRF). To become a member please see www.drf.nu for information. There is also an association for Foodservice Managers (Kostekonomer) and they call themselves in English the Swedish Association of Dietitians, which is unfortunately as the majority of their members are not dietitians. The education and work opportunities for Foodservice Managers and Nutritionists will not be covered in this document.

For Dietitians: For all within area of nutrition: Swedish Dietetic Association Swedish Nutrition Foundation SNF www.drf.nu www.snf.ideon.se

Ms. Elisabeth Rothenberg, PhD, R.D., President Swedish Nutrition Foundation SNF E-mail: [email protected] Ideon SE-223 70 LUND Mrs. Anna Ottosson, R.D., Vice president Sweden E-mail: Anna.ottosson@drf,nu Phone: +46-46-286 22 82 Mobile: +46-736 00 5016 Fax: +46-46-286 22 81 E-mail: [email protected]

Mr. Bengt Holgersson, Chairman

For Foodservice Managers: For Nutritionists: AThe Swedish Association of Dietitians The Association of Nutritionists (Kost och Näring) (Nutritionistföreningen) www.kostochnaring.se www.nutritionistforeningen.org Ms. Karin Lidén, President Ms. Maj Eriksson, President E-mail: [email protected] [email protected]

Country Information Sheet - Sweden Updated by Maria Gustafsson, 2009 March

Training of national dietitians and obtaining the Swedish Registered Dietitian To become a dietitian in Sweden you need at least 120 university hours at one of the three Dietetic Education University Programs. The three universities offering the Dietetic program are Uppsala University, Umeå University and Gothenburg University. The 120 university hours gives a Bachelor. These university hours also included a short internship. As for this moment the internship works a little different at each university. They all have the same amount of days they are just distributed throughout the education in different ways. Many dietitians do 160 university hours and then get something called a Magister, which is like halfway between Bachelor and Master. The European Bologna Process in Europe try to coordinate all university programs to look more similar and today one can instead of the Swedish magister get a Master but then it is a minimum of 180 university hours. After graduating with a bachelor in Dietetics one can apply for the registered dietitian by The National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen). http://www.socialstyrelsen.se/Amnesord/utbildning_o_kompetens/legitimationer/Dietister.htm The application will not be processed until the fee is paid. Therefore the recommendation is to pay the fee at the same time as one send in the application. Dietitians with a RD from the USA can apply to get their Swedish RD without any other added education. For RDs and Dietitians from other countries there are different regulations. Please see above website for more information. One is not allowed to call oneself a dietitian in Sweden without the Swedish registered dietitian. One can still work as a nutritionist without the Swedish RD.

If you like to study in Sweden please see http://www.studyinsweden.se/ for more information. Note that one cannot start a dietetic education in USA and finishing in Sweden. The way the education programs are made up one has to finish the dietetic education in the USA to be able to apply for the Swedish RD. There are possibilities to go as an exchange student. Then contact your university’s international studies for this information.

Brief description of national healthcare system and private practice Basically all health care in Sweden is run by the government and therefore the health care is mainly founded by taxes, with nominal fees for patients. Sweden ranks in the top five countries with respect to low infant mortality and ranks high in life expectancy. Sweden is divided into 21 county councils, these are called landsting. Each landsting has their own health care system and patientfee. There are some private practices but these often have agreement with the local landsting to make it possible for patient to pay the same patientfee. One does not need a special health care insurance in Sweden but some companies offer this to their employees, especially on higher work levels such as CEO, President and Vice Presidents. The health insurance will then cover private practice and treatments outside the landsting agreement. As a dietitian, physical therapist, recreation therapists, psychologist and some other health care professionals can without an agreement with the landsting have a private practice and then set the patient fee oneself.

Employment opportunities profile (areas e.g. clinical, research, other) Most dietitian in Sweden work at hospitals and outpatient health settings called Vårdcentral or Primärvård (primary care). Some dietitians also work for communities (kommuner) and then work with schools, child care centers and senior homes. Lately there has come many more opportunities for dietitians in companies such as Danone, Unilever, Nestlé, Nutricia and Kellogg’s as well as Swedish diary association and the cereal association etc are hiring dietitians to help with health claims. Most research is done at universities; see above under training of dietitians for the three universities with dietetic/nutrition research. Some of the universities for other medical education program also offer research in nutrition. One has to speak Swedish fluently to be able to work as a dietitian in Sweden. There is an advantage if one applies for a job, and besides Swedish and English is fluently in another language that is well represented among immigrants such as Arabic, Spanish, Kurdish, and Persian. This should be put on the résumé when applying for a job. Unfortunately, at this point there are very few open positions for dietitians in Sweden. Each year more students are graduating than there are jobs.

Country Information Sheet - Sweden Updated by Maria Gustafsson, 2009 March

How to obtain work permit U.S. citizens need to apply for a working permit. This is done through the Embassy of Sweden in Washington D.C. Please see www.swedenabroad.com and specific for work permit http://www.swedenabroad.com/Page____78924.aspx From other countries please see your country of citizen for Embassy of Sweden or Consulate of Sweden. Note that the working permit needs to be applied for before you enter Sweden. If you have a job offer in Sweden your employer can help you out and then refer to www.migrationsverket.se

Local Food Customs By area Sweden is one of the largest countries in Europe and it is a very long country. Different areas have different traditional food habits. Sweden takes in many influences from other countries and most people eat what is called cross-over food. For breakfast open sandwiches with mélange or soft margarine, cheese or ham is common. Many people also eat yoghurt or fil (similar to buttermilk) with cereal. Oatmeal with milk is also common. Te, coffee, hot chocolate milk and juice are common drinks. For both lunch and dinner a hot meal is often eaten. A traditional hot meal consists of meat or fish, boiled vegetables or a salad, and a carbohydrate staple. The traditional carbohydrate staple is boiled potatoes. But due to influences from other countries many Swedish people eat pasta, rice, bulgur, couscous just as often. Some of the local food includes game (moose, reindeer, and deer) but if one don’t hunt these are expensive so beef, pork and chicken are the main meet. Big parts of Sweden have coastline, and Sweden also has many rivers and lakes and therefore fish is very common. The most common ones are cod, salmon, mackerel and herring and also seafood such as shrimp and crabs. As for local vegetables, local root vegetables and kale vegetables are present almost all year. In summertime tomatoes, salad, lettuce, legumes are local as well. Traditional Swedish food habits are more savory than sweet. A meal can be accompanied by something sweet like the traditional lingonberry jam served to Swedish meatballs.

Continuing Education opportunities There are many opportunities for continued education. Attending lectures, conferences and congresses gives opportunities for CPE. There are local, national and Nordic dietetic/nutrition lectures/conferences throughout the year. Health care areas (landsting), hospitals, primary health care centers (vårdcentraler) and communities (kommuner) also offer lectures throughout the year for their employees. There are also lectures offered by companies such as Nestle medical and Nutricia. For all attending lectures, conferences, congresses etc: 1 CPE per hour. Attending post-graduate university course: Use the same conversion for CPE as if you attending a course at an USA university.

AODA volunteer opportunities

The Swedish Dietetic Association does not regular work with ADA and AODA and at this point there is only two AODA members in Sweden. For AODA volunteer opportunities and how you can contribute to AODA please see AODA web-site and newsletter. Ways to volunteer is to become a member on the AODA board; Assist in organizing conferences; Submit articles to the AODA newsletter etc.

For more information, please contact Maria Gustafsson, AODA Country Representative of Sweden. Note that Maria is Swedish but currently living in the Netherlands

Local Address: Phone work: +31-10-840 2151 Maria Gustafsson Phone work: +31-10-439 3985 Vredenoordlaan 54B Mobile: + 31-5335 5409 3061 RN, Rotterdam E-mail: [email protected] The Netherlands

Country Information Sheet - Sweden Updated by Maria Gustafsson, 2009 March