Implementation and Behavioural Approaches to Nutrition in Populations with Complex Health or Psychosocial Needs

Populations experiencing complex health, behavioural, and psychosocial challenges face disproportionate burdens of nutrition-related disease and barriers to effective care. These groups, including people living with mental illness, multimorbidity, and social disadvantage, often encounter fragmented services, limited access to tailored interventions, and structural inequities that limit engagement and sustainability. While evidence-based nutrition interventions exist, their translation into real-world settings remains inconsistent. Emerging approaches emphasise implementation science, behavioural frameworks, and co-designed, culturally responsive models to improve relevance and uptake. However, there is a need to better understand how interventions can be adapted and delivered effectively across diverse, complex populations and contexts, and how to evaluate outcomes that reflect equity, accessibility, and long-term impact. As such, this Research Topic would focus on the design, implementation, adaptation, delivery, and evaluation of nutrition and lifestyle interventions for populations experiencing complex health, behavioural, social, or psychosocial challenges.

This Research Topic aims to address the gap between evidence-based nutrition interventions and their real-world implementation in populations with complex needs. Despite advances in behavioural science, implementation frameworks, and participatory research methods, interventions often fail to reach or benefit those most at risk. This collection seeks to advance understanding of how nutrition and lifestyle interventions can be effectively designed, adapted, delivered, and sustained in complex, real-world settings. By synthesising diverse approaches and contexts, this Research Topic aims to identify scalable and context-sensitive solutions that improve engagement, reduce disparities, and enhance health outcomes.

We invite submissions addressing the implementation and behavioural aspects of nutrition interventions among populations with complex health or psychosocial needs. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Real-world implementation of nutrition and lifestyle interventions in clinical, community, or hybrid settings.
• Application of behavioural theories and techniques to improve dietary and lifestyle outcomes.
• Co-designed, culturally responsive, and trauma-informed approaches to dietary care.
• Strategies to enhance equity, accessibility, engagement, and retention of nutrition and lifestyle interventions.
• Integration of nutrition care within mental health, social services, and multidisciplinary models.
• Evaluation of implementation outcomes (e.g. feasibility, acceptability, fidelity, sustainability) in nutrition and lifestyle interventions.
• Policy and system-level influences on nutrition care delivery.

Populations of Interest:

• Individuals living with mental health conditions.
• People accessing psychosocial or community support services.
• Populations with chronic disease and multimorbidity.
• Socially disadvantaged or marginalised groups.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Registered Report
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Implementation Science, Behavioural Nutrition, Health Equity, Complex Populations, Co-Designed Interventions

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.