Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
9.2
4.8
Journals
Nutrients
Special Issues
Dietary Patterns and Nutritional Challenges in Adolescents and Young Adults:...
nutrients-logo
Submit to Special Issue Submit Abstract to Special Issue Review for Nutrients Propose a Special Issue

Journal Menu

► Journal Menu

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser
share announcement

Dietary Patterns and Nutritional Challenges in Adolescents and Young Adults: Implications for Health and Disease

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2025 | Viewed by 1422

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Eliza Wasilewska

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Department of Allergology, Medical University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland
2. Centre of Rare Disease, University Hospital of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland
Interests: dietary habits; nutritional challenges; obesity; adolescent; young adults; asthma; allergy; pulmonary function tests; rare diseases; Duchenne muscular dystrophy
Dr. Skotnicka Magdalena

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Commodity Science, Faculty of Health Sciences with the Institute of Maritime and Tropical Medicine, Medical University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland
Interests: edible insects; novel foods; antioxidant activity
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We would like to invite you to submit an article to a Special Issue of Nutrients entitled “Dietary Patterns and Nutritional Challenges in Adolescents and Young Adults: Implications for Health and Disease”.

Adolescents and young adults are environmentally vulnerable groups, and their eating habits are influenced by lifestyle, the increasing availability of highly processed foods and social media. Early adulthood is also a period of intense metabolic and psychological changes, making this stage of life crucial for health prevention and disease prevention in later years.

The aim of this Special Issue is to explore the dietary patterns and nutritional challenges in adolescents and young adults. We are also interested in the dietary habits and nutritional interventions in this age group suffering from various diseases, including lifestyle and rare diseases.

We invite you to submit original papers, reviews, intervention studies, and cross-sectional studies. This Special Issue provides a platform for research on the effectiveness of nutrition interventions, health education and strategies to support healthy eating habits.

We hope that the collected papers will expand our knowledge and contribute to a better understanding of the nutritional challenges that adolescents and young adults face.

Dr. Eliza Wasilewska
Dr. Skotnicka Magdalena
Guest Editors

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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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

  • adolescent
  • young adults
  • dietary habits
  • dietary patterns
  • nutritional challenges
  • nutritional intervention
  • functional food

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.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

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

Published Papers (2 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Review

26 pages, 3580 KiB  
Article
Barriers and Enablers of Healthy Eating Among University Students in Oaxaca de Juarez: A Mixed-Methods Study
by Patricia Jurado-Gonzalez, Sabina López-Toledo, Anna Bach-Faig and Francesc-Xavier Medina
Nutrients 2025, 17(7), 1263; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17071263 - 3 Apr 2025
Viewed by 628
Abstract
Background/Objectives: The transition to university life brings significant social, psychological, and environmental changes, making it a critical period for establishing long-term dietary habits. However, many Mexican university students fail to meet national dietary guidelines, increasing their risk of non-communicable diseases. This study [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: The transition to university life brings significant social, psychological, and environmental changes, making it a critical period for establishing long-term dietary habits. However, many Mexican university students fail to meet national dietary guidelines, increasing their risk of non-communicable diseases. This study examines the determinants of healthy eating among university students in Oaxaca using a holistic, multi-level approach grounded in the Social Ecological Model (SEM) and Social Cognitive Theory (SCT). Methods: A mixed-methods approach was employed, integrating ethnography with a validated self-report questionnaire completed by 411 students at the Universidad Autónoma Benito Juárez de Oaxaca (UABJO). The ethnographic data included observations, field notes, photographs, informal conversations, and 13 semi-structured interviews. Data triangulation provided a comprehensive understanding of dietary behaviors by capturing both self-reported patterns and real-world eating practices and the food environment, as captured through ethnographic methods. The analysis included descriptive statistics, normality tests, and parametric tests to assess significant differences. Results: The findings revealed a decline in diet quality, characterized by low fruit and vegetable intake, high snack consumption, and irregular meal patterns, particularly among students living independently. Key barriers included academic stress, time constraints, low cooking self-efficacy, limited nutritional knowledge, peer pressure, and negative social norms, which contributed to reliance on convenient, processed foods. The lack of healthy food options on campus and the high perceived cost of nutritious food further led students to prioritize cheap, calorie-dense foods over healthier choices. Conversely, enablers included structured university schedules; peer support; hands-on culinary interventions; and improved access to affordable, healthy food. Conclusions: Addressing these barriers requires multi-level interventions that enhance nutrition literacy, cooking self-efficacy, and peer-led strategies while improving the campus food environment. Future research should explore SCT-based initiatives leveraging social networks and culinary education to foster sustainable dietary behavior change in university settings and assess how these findings can be applied in other socioeconomic and cultural contexts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dietary Patterns and Nutritional Challenges in Adolescents and Young Adults: Implications for Health and Disease)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

17 pages, 451 KiB  
Review
The Social, Behavioral, and Psychological Predictors of Young Women’s Food Choices: A Scoping Review
by Jane Lankes Smith, Madeline E. Comeau and Julie M. Hess
Nutrients 2025, 17(6), 932; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17060932 - 7 Mar 2025
Viewed by 737
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Understanding influences on food habits is crucial to developing effective strategies to improve dietary quality. Past research shows that the predictors of food habits may be dependent on individuals’ age and sex. Young women are a population of particular concern, as they [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Understanding influences on food habits is crucial to developing effective strategies to improve dietary quality. Past research shows that the predictors of food habits may be dependent on individuals’ age and sex. Young women are a population of particular concern, as they have one of the greatest disparities between actual and recommended diet. The purpose of this review is to better understand the current body of research on factors that may influence young women’s eating patterns. Methods: A systematic search on PubMed identified studies on the social, behavioral, and psychological predictors of food choices among females 13–24 years in the United States published between 2017 and 2022. Two researchers independently conducted a content analysis of the 48 final articles. The two researchers then jointly identified overarching themes in the literature, with consultation from a third researcher. Results: While social and psychological factors are frequently examined in the current literature, few studies evaluate behavioral influences on young women’s eating habits. Overall, little research has been conducted on diet quality influences among young women, as <2% of articles contained findings that met the inclusion criteria. Conclusions: This analysis indicates that additional research is needed to ascertain predictors of adolescent and young adult women’s food patterns and dietary choices. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dietary Patterns and Nutritional Challenges in Adolescents and Young Adults: Implications for Health and Disease)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-2
Back to TopTop