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Nutrients
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Public Health, Nutritional Behavior and Nutritional Status—3rd Edition
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Public Health, Nutritional Behavior and Nutritional Status—3rd Edition

A special issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643). This special issue belongs to the section "Nutrition and Public Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 December 2026 | Viewed by 3151

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Sabina Lachowicz-Wiśniewska

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Guest Editor
1. Department of Food and Nutrition, University of Kalisz, W. Bogusławskiego 4 Square, 62-800 Kalisz, Poland
2. Department of Production Engineering, Wroclaw University of Economics and Business, Komandorska 118/120, 53‑345 Wrocław, Poland
Interests: nutraceuticals and functional foods; medicinal plants; bioactive compounds; HPLC; LC-MS; nutrition; antioxidant agent; prebiotics; probiotics; symbiotics; bioavailability in vitro
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Agata Kotowska

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Guest Editor Assistant
Department of Social Policy, Institute of Sociological Sciences, College of Social Sciences, University of Rzeszow, Rzeszow, Poland
Interests: public health; media and social communication; sociology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are announcing the launch of the third edition of the Special Issue of Nutrients entitled “Public Health, Nutritional Behavior and Nutritional Status—3rd Edition.”

The two previous editions of this Special Issue have demonstrated both strong scientific interest in this field and the diversity of perspectives it attracts. In the first edition, authors highlighted the multifactorial links between nutrition, obesity, and mental health, emphasizing the role of dietary behaviors, gut microbiota, and lifestyle interventions in preventing and managing chronic diseases. The second edition contains additional interdisciplinary insights, ranging from large-scale surveys of dietary habits among young people in Poland to cross-national studies on portion perception, undernutrition, and digital tools for personalized nutrition. Together, these contributions highlight the persistent gap between nutritional awareness and everyday practices, while pointing to the need for integrated strategies that connect public policies with individualized approaches.

Building on this foundation, the third edition of this issue will continue to explore the complex interplay between dietary behaviors, nutritional status, and public health. We aim to provide healthcare professionals, dietitians, and policymakers with clear, evidence-based knowledge on how to monitor, understand, and effectively respond to ongoing challenges. We especially encourage submissions that utilize innovative methodologies, make practical recommendations, and draw on global perspectives, as well as studies focusing on vulnerable populations and health inequalities.

We invite you to contribute original research, systematic and scoping reviews, short communications, and study protocols to this Special Issue. Together, these contributions will form a valuable and timely resource for advancing knowledge and supporting effective public health nutrition strategies worldwide. We look forward to receiving your submissions.

Dr. Sabina Lachowicz-Wiśniewska
Guest Editor

Dr. Agata Kotowska
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. 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

  • public health
  • community health
  • social health
  • functional food
  • bioactive compounds
  • bioavailability
  • pro-health properties
  • dietary supplements
  • nutrition and dietetics

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 299 KB  
Article
Optimizing Public Health Screening: Population-Specific BMI Thresholds for Targeted Body Composition Assessment in Hungary
by Tamas Jarecsny, Nadim Al-Muhanna, Dora Rebeka Fabian, Roland Kosik, Richard Schwab, Gergo Jozsef Szollosi, Laszlo Schandl, Gyula Tomasics, Eszter Melinda Pazmandi, Andras Folyovich, Ferenc Fazekas and Monika Fekete
Nutrients 2026, 18(9), 1410; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu18091410 - 29 Apr 2026
Viewed by 329
Abstract
Background: Body mass index (BMI) is widely used as a proxy of nutritional status and related lifestyle risk patterns in public health, yet it does not capture body composition–related heterogeneity in cardiometabolic risk. Evidence on whether a more detailed body composition assessment [...] Read more.
Background: Body mass index (BMI) is widely used as a proxy of nutritional status and related lifestyle risk patterns in public health, yet it does not capture body composition–related heterogeneity in cardiometabolic risk. Evidence on whether a more detailed body composition assessment improves population-level screening efficiency remains inconsistent, particularly in Central European populations. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 868 Hungarian adults participating in a nationwide mobile screening program. Locally weighted regression identified sex-specific BMI inflection points for cardiometabolic risk. Stratified receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses compared BMI with bioelectrical impedance-derived parameters across five outcomes. Cost- and time-effectiveness of scalable screening strategies were modeled at the population level. Results: Cardiometabolic risk increased at BMI levels below current WHO thresholds (females: 21.8–22.3 kg/m2; males: 23.8–24.3 kg/m2). Overall, body composition parameters did not outperform BMI in the full population. Subgroup-specific differences were observed, particularly among men with BMI 24–36 kg/m2 for atherosclerosis risk, suggesting limited and outcome-specific added value rather than broad superiority over BMI. Together, non-linear risk patterns, stratified performance, and population-level modeling converged on mid-range BMI intervals (females: 22–30 kg/m2; males: 24–30 kg/m2) as likely screening windows of phenotypic heterogeneity. Within these ranges, targeted InBody assessment may help refine risk assessment for selected individuals. A mixed screening strategy covering 52% of the population would cost 178.4% of BMI-only screening, while reducing throughput by 24.3%. Conclusions: Population-specific BMI thresholds may more accurately reflect early deviations in nutritional and cardiometabolic risk than current universal cutoffs. BMI remains a useful first-line marker, and body composition assessment may add complementary information in selected BMI ranges. Overall, these findings support a potentially useful, subgroup-specific screening approach, but the modeled cost and time trade-offs should be considered hypothesis-generating and require further validation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Public Health, Nutritional Behavior and Nutritional Status—3rd Edition)
17 pages, 267 KB  
Article
Directions and Perspectives for Preventive Activities in Primary Care—Patients’ Health-Promoting and Health-Risk Behaviours
by Anna Domańska, Sabina Lachowicz-Wiśniewska and Wioletta Żukiewicz-Sobczak
Nutrients 2026, 18(2), 346; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu18020346 - 21 Jan 2026
Viewed by 664
Abstract
Non-communicable diseases, particularly cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and metabolic syndrome (MS), remain a major challenge for primary health care (PHC). This study aimed to assess cardiometabolic risk and health behaviours in adult PHC patients using routine preventive screening. This prospective observational study included 506 [...] Read more.
Non-communicable diseases, particularly cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and metabolic syndrome (MS), remain a major challenge for primary health care (PHC). This study aimed to assess cardiometabolic risk and health behaviours in adult PHC patients using routine preventive screening. This prospective observational study included 506 adults attending routine consultations in an urban PHC centre in Poland. Preventive assessment included anthropometric measurements (body weight, height, BMI, and waist circumference), blood pressure, lipid profile, and fasting glucose levels. Health behaviours were recorded using the standardised NFZ CHUK questionnaire. The 10-year CVD risk was estimated using the SCORE2 algorithm. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify independent factors associated with high cardiovascular risk (SCORE2 ≥ 5%) and of a composite endpoint defined as the presence of any non-optimal biochemical parameter. Nearly half of the participants had excess body weight (overweight or obesity), and more than half met criteria for central obesity. Borderline or elevated total cholesterol was found in 47% of patients, abnormal LDL in 27%, low HDL-C (<40 mg/dL) in 80% (84% when applying sex-specific cut-offs), and impaired fasting glucose or diabetes in about 12%. High SCORE2 risk (≥5%) was observed in approximately 9% of the cohort. In multivariable models, SCORE2 components (age, sex, and smoking) were, as expected, associated with high SCORE2 risk, and obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2)—a factor not included in SCORE2—was additionally associated with higher risk. Additionally, age, male sex, and obesity also predicted the presence of at least one non-optimal biochemical marker. The prevalence of high SCORE2 risk increased from 1.2% in patients with 0–1 modifiable risk factor to 25.7% in those with 4–5 factors. Lower educational attainment was associated with a higher proportion of high-risk individuals in univariate analysis. Routine preventive activities in PHC enable the identification of important lipid and glucose abnormalities and the clustering of modifiable risk factors, even in a relatively young, highly educated population. Systematic cardiovascular screening and a focus on patients with accumulated risk factors should remain a priority in PHC to enable early identification of high-risk patients and timely implementation of lifestyle and therapeutic interventions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Public Health, Nutritional Behavior and Nutritional Status—3rd Edition)
28 pages, 1457 KB  
Article
Opinions on Ketogenic Diets Among Students and Academic Teachers at the University of Pécs, Hungary: A Cross-Sectional Survey
by Nicole Hunter, János Girán, Gergely Márovics, Károly Berényi, Balázs Németh and Katalin Szendi
Nutrients 2025, 17(21), 3327; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17213327 - 22 Oct 2025
Viewed by 1691
Abstract
Background: The ketogenic diet (KD) is one of the most widely followed dietary approaches worldwide, frequently promoted in popular media for weight loss and chronic disease management, although it also has established therapeutic applications in clinical medicine. However, our previous reviews have shown [...] Read more.
Background: The ketogenic diet (KD) is one of the most widely followed dietary approaches worldwide, frequently promoted in popular media for weight loss and chronic disease management, although it also has established therapeutic applications in clinical medicine. However, our previous reviews have shown that existing clinical studies and meta-analyses on KD suffer from serious methodological limitations, raising concerns about their reliability. Considering this, the present study aimed to assess knowledge and opinions on KD among university students and academic staff. Methods: Cross-sectional, self-developed online questionnaire was distributed to 23,330 students and academic teachers at the University of Pécs, Hungary. Data was collected in October 2024. A total of 891 responses were included (710 students, 123 academic staff). Knowledge scores were calculated (maximum 17 points, including penalties for incorrect answers) and data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, ANOVA, chi-square tests, Pearson correlation, and logistic regression. Results: Only 7.3% of students and 13.5% of staff achieved ≥60% of the maximum knowledge score. Health-related faculties did not consistently outperform non–health-related ones; in fact, some non-health-related faculties achieved the highest mean scores. Completion of nutrition-related courses and reliance on PubMed were associated with higher knowledge, while current KD adherence among staff was negatively associated. Most participants (over 65%) were uncertain about the reliability of KD research. Conclusions: Knowledge of KD among both students and staff was limited, highlighting susceptibility to misinformation. Critical appraisal skills and reliable nutrition education are urgently needed at the population level to support disease prevention and to counterbalance misleading claims about KD. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Public Health, Nutritional Behavior and Nutritional Status—3rd Edition)
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