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Healthcare
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Nutrition Interventions for Chronic Disease Management
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Nutrition Interventions for Chronic Disease Management

A special issue of Healthcare (ISSN 2227-9032). This special issue belongs to the section "Chronic Care".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 5 June 2026 | Viewed by 879

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Francine Overcash

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA
Interests: nutritional epidemiology; mediterranean diet; community engaged interventions
Dr. Ambria C. Crusan

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor Assistant
Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, St. Catherine University, St. Paul, MN 55105, USA
Interests: nutrition interventions; carotenoids; culturally-appropriate foods; health equity

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite you to submit your work focusing on nutrition interventions for chronic disease management. There is a paucity in the literature regarding nutrition interventions for diverse populations as a holistic approach to healthcare. Nutrition interventions, such as diet and lifestyle changes, for the prevention and management of chronic disease are supported by a robust body of research. Evidence-based dietary guidelines recommend individuals consume fruits, vegetables, whole grains, vegetable oils, legumes, fish, and poultry in substitution for refined grains, animal fats, and red/processed meats, increasing rates of chronic diseases. However, multiple systemic challenges can also be present, exacerbating chronic disease rates. Therefore, this Special Issue aims to promote research targeting the prevention and mitigation of chronic diseases, focusing on multifaceted and innovative nutrition and medical approaches. Original research articles, case reports, and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following: articles utilizing evidence-based nutrition interventions for chronic disease management with a consideration of cultural, social, and economic determinants of health, food as medicine, and implementation of nutrition interventions. By acknowledging the influence of effective nutrition interventions within medical spaces, progress can be made towards mitigating the impact of chronic conditions and promoting a more equitable healthcare system.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Francine Overcash
Guest Editor

Dr. Ambria C. Crusan
Guest Editor Assistant

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Healthcare is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • cardiometabolic disease
  • hypertension
  • diabetes
  • COPD
  • obesity
  • dietary intervention
  • eating patterns
  • community intervention
  • food security
  • food as medicine

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

22 pages, 357 KB  
Article
Economic Impact of a Precision Nutrition Digital Therapeutic on Employer Health Costs: A Multi-Employer and Multi-Year Claims Analysis
by Inti Pedroso, Santosh Kumar Saravanan, Shreyas Vivek Kumbhare, Garima Sharma, Daniel Eduardo Almonacid and Ranjan Sinha
Healthcare 2025, 13(23), 3147; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare13233147 - 2 Dec 2025
Viewed by 477
Abstract
Background: Obesity, gastrointestinal disorders, and mental health conditions are major drivers of employer healthcare expenditures, yet nutrition-focused interventions are infrequently reimbursed by health insurance. Precision nutrition, which integrates genetic, gut microbiome, biometric, and behavioral data to guide personalized dietary and lifestyle changes, may [...] Read more.
Background: Obesity, gastrointestinal disorders, and mental health conditions are major drivers of employer healthcare expenditures, yet nutrition-focused interventions are infrequently reimbursed by health insurance. Precision nutrition, which integrates genetic, gut microbiome, biometric, and behavioral data to guide personalized dietary and lifestyle changes, may offer a scalable approach to reducing costs associated with diet-responsive conditions. Objectives: To evaluate the impact of a precision nutrition digital therapeutic on employer medical spending for diet-responsive conditions in self-insured U.S. health plans. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of medical claims from January 2022 to December 2024 across seven U.S. self-insured employers. Employees enrolled in a precision nutrition digital therapeutic (n = 258) were compared with never-enrolled peers (n = 8268). We estimated treatment effects using a two-stage difference-in-differences model with member and calendar-month fixed effects and clustered standard errors, focusing on per-member-per-year (PMPY) employer-paid medical spending overall and for predefined diet-responsive condition categories. PMPY estimates were defined conditional on months with positive employer-paid spending and therefore reflect changes in the intensity of spending among members generating claims rather than unconditional per-capita costs. Results: Enrollment in the precision nutrition digital therapeutic was associated with a −$3012 PMPY reduction in diet-responsive medical spending (p = 0.021) relative to non-enrolled peers on this conditional basis. The largest relative reductions were observed for digestive disorders (−$9240 PMPY; p = 0.029) and obesity (−$4884 PMPY; p = 0.007), with a smaller reduction for anxiety-related conditions (−$1356 PMPY; p = 0.043). Total medical spending decreased by −$4044 PMPY but this change did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.09). Conclusions: In this multi-employer claims analysis, participation in a precision nutrition digital therapeutic was associated with lower employer-paid medical expenditures for diet-responsive conditions, particularly digestive disorders and obesity. These findings suggest that precision nutrition digital therapeutics may represent a scalable strategy for employers to address the economic burden of chronic disease within self-insured health plans by reducing the intensity of medical spending among members. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrition Interventions for Chronic Disease Management)
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