Submit to Special Issue Submit Abstract to Special Issue Review for Nutrients Propose a Special Issue

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser

Advancing Methodological Rigor in Nutritional Epidemiology

Print Special Issue Flyer
Editor
Special Issue Information
Keywords
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
Published Papers

A Special Issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643) belonging to the section "Nutrition Methodology & Assessment".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 5 December 2026 | Viewed by 2934

Share This Special Issue

Editor

Prof. Dr. Jamie Seabrook

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

1. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Western University, London, ON N6A 5C2, Canada
2. Brescia School of Food and Nutritional Sciences, Western University, London, ON N6A 5C2, Canada
3. Department of Paediatrics, Western University, London, ON N6A 5C2, Canada
Interests: socioeconomic status; social determinants of health; child health; youth substance use; adolescent mental health; nutritional epidemiology; perinatal epidemiology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The field of nutritional epidemiology plays a crucial role in informing evidence-based dietary guidelines and public health policies. However, the literature is often marked by inconsistent findings, methodological limitations, and challenges in dietary assessment, which can undermine public trust and hinder policy implementation. As the demand for clear and reliable nutrition guidance grows, there is an urgent need to improve the methodological rigor of research in this field.

This Special Issue, titled “Advancing Methodological Rigor in Nutritional Epidemiology”, invites contributions that strengthen the quality and credibility of observational and interventional nutrition research. We welcome original studies, methodological papers, and critical reviews on issues such as confounding, measurement error, causal inference, statistical modeling, and innovative approaches to dietary assessment.

By fostering a dialogue around high-quality methods, this Special Issue will promote transparency, reproducibility, and trust in nutritional science. This is especially important in areas where contradictory evidence has historically challenged consensus.

We encourage submissions from scholars working at the intersection of nutrition, epidemiology, public health, and data science to help shape the future direction of rigorous and reliable research in this essential field.

Prof. Dr. Jamie Seabrook
Guest Editor

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-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Nutrients 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 2900 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

nutritional epidemiology
methodological rigor
dietary assessment
measurement error
confounding
causal inference
observational studies
public health nutrition
epidemiologic methods
nutrition methods
statistical modeling
research reproducibility
evidence-based nutrition

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

Download All Papers

Order results

Result details

Show export options Show export options

Select all

Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

14 pages, 261 KB

Open AccessArticle

Cannabis Use and Diet Quality Among University Students: The Role of Meal Skipping and Health Behaviours

by Rawan Alfares, Jasna Twynstra, Jason A. Gilliland and Jamie A. Seabrook

Nutrients 2026, 18(13), 2210; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu18132210 - 7 Jul 2026

Viewed by 686

Abstract

Background/Objectives: Diet quality among university students is influenced by multiple behavioural and lifestyle factors, yet limited research has examined how cannabis use relates to overall diet quality within this population. This study examined the association between cannabis use and diet quality among university students and assessed whether this relationship was explained by behavioural, contextual, and psychological factors. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was distributed to all registered students at a large Canadian university in January 2026. Diet quality was assessed using the Canadian Food Intake Screener (CFIS), and past 30-day cannabis use was examined as the primary exposure. Hierarchical multiple linear regression models were conducted sequentially, adjusting for demographic characteristics, health behaviours, mental health variables, living arrangements, meal skipping, and other substance use. Results: Among 1581 survey respondents, 1467 participants were included in the fully adjusted regression analyses. Past 30-day cannabis use was reported by 33.7% of participants. In demographic-adjusted analyses, cannabis use was associated with lower diet quality scores (B = −0.81, p < 0.01). This association remained statistically significant following adjustment for health behaviours, mental health variables, and living arrangements. However, after adjustment for meal skipping, the association between cannabis use and diet quality was attenuated and no longer statistically significant (B = −0.44, p = 0.09). Meal skipping emerged as one of the strongest behavioural correlates of lower diet quality. Additional adjustment for other substance use did not materially alter findings. Conclusions: Cannabis use was initially associated with lower diet quality among university students; however, this association was attenuated after accounting for broader behavioural factors, particularly meal skipping. Given the cross-sectional design, these findings do not establish whether cannabis use influences dietary behaviours or whether meal skipping represents a pathway linking cannabis use and diet quality. These findings highlight the importance of considering diet quality within a broader behavioural framework and suggest that eating patterns represent an important correlate of diet quality among university students. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancing Methodological Rigor in Nutritional Epidemiology)

13 pages, 475 KB

Open AccessArticle

Exploring Subpopulations for Epidemiological Precision Nutrition Research: The Example of Phenylalanine Hydroxylase (PAH) Genetic Variation

by Anoushka Dhawan, Sophia M. Khan, Madison L. Fennell, Clara E. Cho, Jennifer M. Monk and Justine R. Keathley

Nutrients 2026, 18(11), 1811; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu18111811 - 4 Jun 2026

Viewed by 541

Abstract

Background/Objectives: Biological factors such as genetics contribute to nutrition-related outcomes, but nutritional epidemiological studies often lack consideration of genetics despite evidence of their functional impacts on health and cognition. Phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) genetic variation has been hypothesized to influence health and cognitive outcomes due to evidence of metabolic perturbations in L-phenylalanine to L-tyrosine hydroxylation, including plausible downstream effects on catecholamine neurotransmitters among not only individuals with phenylketonuria (PKU) [homozygotes for PAH mutations] but also PKU carriers [heterozygotes]. Related to these metabolic perturbations, diminished executive functioning has been observed in individuals with PKU, even when treated, but research is lacking exploring this outcome in PKU carriers. The present study aims to detail methods for stratifying populations based on genetic variation, for use in epidemiological precision nutrition research. It further provides an exploratory exemplar of such research through population stratification by PAH genetic variation (i.e., PKU carriers vs. non-carriers), while providing the first descriptive data on executive functioning skills using the validated Executive Skills Questionnaire—Revised (ESQ-R) tool with PAH-genetically stratified groups (PKU carriers and non-carriers). Methods: Participants were ≥18 years of age and PAH heterozygotes (PKU carriers) or non-carriers. Levels of executive functioning were self-reported anonymously online and included the validated Executive Skills Questionnaire—Revised (ESQ-R) tool. Data were analyzed using t-tests, chi-square tests, ANOVAs, and ANCOVAs. Results: Respondents (n = 99, n = 79 carriers and n = 20 non-carriers) consisted of males (22.2%) and females (77.8%), primarily of European ancestry. There were no significant differences between groups (carriers vs. non-carriers) for total scores (mean ± SD ESQ-R score carriers = 17.41 ± 14.01; non-carriers = 14.95 ± 10.00), but carriers scored significantly worse than non-carriers for the ESQ-R item “I have trouble making a plan” in the adjusted model. Conclusions: This study provides a methodological exemplar for exploring genetically stratified subpopulations in epidemiological precision nutrition research. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancing Methodological Rigor in Nutritional Epidemiology)

16 pages, 3500 KB

Open AccessArticle

Differential Network-Based Dietary Structure and Type 2 Diabetes Risk: A Prospective Cohort Study Using Food Co-Consumption Networks

by Hye Won Woo, Yu-Mi Kim, Min-Ho Shin, Sang Baek Koh, Hyeon Chang Kim and Mi Kyung Kim

Nutrients 2026, 18(3), 506; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu18030506 - 2 Feb 2026

Viewed by 922

Abstract

Background/Objectives: Current data-driven dietary pattern methods have limitations in identifying disease-specific dietary structures. We developed network-derived dietary scores based on type 2 diabetes (T2D)-differential food co-consumption networks and examined their associations with incident T2D risk. Methods: Using the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study-CArdioVascular disease Association Study (KoGES-CAVAS, n = 16,665), we constructed food co-consumption networks from cumulative average intakes stratified by incident T2D status. The network centrality scores from edges appearing exclusively in either T2D or non-T2D networks were used to generate a differential co-consumption network-derived (D_CCN) score, with higher scores indicating a greater alignment with diabetes-specific structures. CAVAS-derived scores were applied to the Health Examinee Study (KoGES-HEXA, n = 51,206) for cross-cohort validation. Incidence rate ratios (IRRs) were estimated using modified Poisson regression with robust error estimation. Results: During follow-up, 953 and 2190 new cases of T2D were identified in CAVAS and HEXA, respectively. Rice and vegetable dishes were primary hub foods in both networks, with rice showing exclusively negative correlations. Non-T2D networks were more complex, whereas T2D networks were simpler and centered on refined flour-based foods. The D_CCN score was associated with a higher T2D risk in CAVAS (IRR = 1.45, 95% CI: 1.21–1.74), and this association was validated in HEXA (IRR = 1.58, 95% CI: 1.40–1.78), with consistent dose–response relationships (both p-trend < 0.0001). Conclusions: Differential network analysis identified T2D-specific co-consumption structures, and the D_CCN score consistently predicted T2D risk across cohorts. This approach highlights the utility of network-based methods for capturing disease-relevant dietary structures beyond traditional approaches. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancing Methodological Rigor in Nutritional Epidemiology)

► Show Figures

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

Advancing Methodological Rigor in Nutritional Epidemiology

Share This Special Issue

Editor

Special Issue Information

Keywords

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

Published Papers (3 papers)

Research

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI