Exercise and Diet: Strategies and Prescriptions to Improve Mental and Cognitive Health

The outbreak of COVID-19 has brought a more stressful and uncertain world to the public. In addition to the widespread confusion, stress, anxiety, fear and inactive lifestyles, this has had a devastating impact on mental health. Mental disorders such as depression, anxiety, mood disorders and addiction, as well as cognitive impairment, are becoming more and more common in the post-epidemic era. Compared with drug therapy, utilizing non-pharmacological interventions (e.g., physical activity and diet interventions) is a safer and more economical choice to improve the mental health of people suffering from mental disorders or cognitive impairment. An increasing number of original studies have demonstrated that exercise and diet interventions can enhance mental health and cognitive functions (e.g., processing speed, working memory, and executive function). Despite there are official recommendations of physical activity and nutrition intake for normal people to keep healthy, proper exercise and diet suggestions are lacking for people who are facing or at risk of mental disorder or cognitive impairment, which is in urgent need.

This research topic aims to bring together the latest research focusing on the following lines of inquiry: (1) the beneficial effects of physical activity and/or nutrition intervention on people who are affected by mental disorders (e.g., anxiety, depression, mood disorders, addiction) and cognitive impairment; (2) exercise and/or nutritional prescriptions for the prevention or treatment of mental disorders and cognitive impairment; (3) the potential mechanisms underlying the exercise- or diet-induced improvements on mental health and cognitive function, especially the physical and mental interaction.

All types of manuscripts are welcome, including original research, systematic reviews, scoping reviews, narrative reviews, meta-analyses, opinions, perspectives, and case reports to provide new evidence on the following themes (but are not limited to):

1. The benefits or risks of different exercise and/or diet strategies in people with mental disorders (e.g. anxiety, depression, mood disorders, addiction) and cognitive impairments;
2. The proper physical activity and/or diet prescriptions for preventing and treating mental disorders and cognitive impairments in healthcare and the wider community context.
3. Possible mechanisms for associations between behavioral changes and mental- and cognitive-health-related outcomes;
4. The body-mind interplay in associations between changes in behavioral factors, especially physical activity and diet and mental- and cognitive-health.

Keywords: Exercise, physical activity, diet, anxiety, depression, mood disorders, addiction, mental health, cognitive function

Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.