A Life-Course Approach to Healthy Dietary Lifestyles for the Prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases
This special issue belongs to the section "Nutrition and Public Health".
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer, and chronic respiratory diseases, remain the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Evidence highlights the key role of modifiable lifestyle factors—particularly dietary habits—in shaping long-term health outcomes and reducing the risk of chronic disease. Nutritional exposure and behaviors across life stages contribute cumulatively to health trajectories, highlighting the importance of a life-course perspective in prevention.
This Special Issue explores how healthy dietary lifestyles can be promoted and sustained across the life course—from childhood and adolescence to adulthood and older age—to support NCD prevention. Contributions are invited that examine dietary patterns, determinants of food choices, and public health strategies promoting healthy eating across diverse populations.
Original research articles, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses are welcome on early-life nutrition and long-term health outcomes, school- and community-based interventions, dietary patterns in adulthood, nutrition and healthy aging, and social, cultural, and economic influences on dietary behaviors. Studies evaluating policies, educational initiatives, and innovative interventions are also encouraged.
Adopting a life-course perspective, this Special Issue aims to advance our understanding of how dietary behaviors throughout life can help to prevent NCDs and promote long-term health at the individual and population levels.
Dr. Giovanna Elisa Calabrò
Prof. Dr. Elisabetta De Vito
Guest Editors
Dr. Daniela Anastasi
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-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
- life-course approach
- healthy dietary lifestyles
- non-communicable diseases (NCDs)
- disease prevention
- public health nutrition
- behavioral determinants of diet
- nutrition interventions
- dietary behavior
- health promotion
- chronic disease prevention
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.

