Nutrition and Dietitians with Sanitas
Losing half a stone before a wedding is not covered. Losing weight because it is wrecking your knees or driving your blood sugar probably is. That distinction is what this page is about.
Dietitian or nutritionist
Worth knowing, because the words are used loosely and the qualifications are not.
A dietitian holds a regulated qualification and can advise on diet as part of treating a medical condition. In Spain the protected title is dietista-nutricionista.
The word nutritionist is used more loosely in some countries and can mean almost anything. Everyone listed in the Sanitas network holds the regulated qualification.
When it is covered
Generally yes when there is a medical reason: diabetes, high cholesterol, coeliac disease, food intolerances, recovery after surgery, kidney disease requiring dietary control, malnutrition or unintended weight loss, and eating disorders alongside psychological support.
Generally not when the reason is appearance: a weight-loss plan for its own sake, sports performance, or general wellbeing advice. Some plans include a limited allowance for these, so it is worth asking rather than assuming either way.
The line is medical need, not weight. Someone whose weight is causing diabetes or joint damage has a medical reason; someone who wants to lose half a stone before a wedding does not.
What an appointment involves
A proper look at what you actually eat rather than what you think you eat, your medical history and medication, and often measurements and bloods. What follows is a plan built around your real life, not a printed diet sheet.
Spanish dietitians are used to working with foreign residents whose eating habits changed on arrival, which is a genuinely common cause of weight and cholesterol drifting.
Waiting periods
None on consultations.
See every Sanitas waiting period in one place, including how switching from another insurer waives nearly all of them.
Where the dietitians are
99 clinics across 22 provinces, with 133 named specialists between them – and you need a prescription from an authorised Sanitas specialist (endocrinology, oncology, internal medicine, geriatrics, paediatrics, digestion or gynaecology) before you can book one.
- Madrid – 31 clinics, 31 specialists
- Barcelona – 10 clinics, 26 specialists
- Malaga – 8 clinics, 7 specialists
- Granada – 7 clinics, 7 specialists
- Murcia – 5 clinics, 6 specialists
Only 22 provinces have one listed. Many endocrinology and general clinics also have dietitians without being listed separately, so ask locally too.
Language at the appointment
Discussing food in detail across a language barrier is harder than it sounds, since so much of it is specific ingredients and quantities. Ask us and we will check who is near you and what languages they work in.
What you pay
Nothing at the clinic on a no-co-payment plan where there is a medical reason. A fixed amount per visit on a co-payment plan.
Find a dietitian near you
Browse dietitians and nutritionists in the Sanitas directory – by province, with addresses, phone numbers and a map.
