Integrating Nutrition into Mental Health Care: An Exploratory Cross-Sectional Survey of Training, Practices, Barriers, and Collaboration Among Mental Health and Nutrition Professionals.
Gurrieri R, Hedrih V, Morphew-Lu E • Nutrients • 2026
Within this self-selected sample of mental health and nutrition professionals, respondents reported frequent cross-disciplinary engagement but limited formal training, with key barriers including lack of training, unclear professional boundaries, and lack of a common language, while 99% of those who answered expressed interest in evidence-based interdisciplinary training.
Key Findings
Results
A majority of both mental health and nutrition professionals reported addressing each other's domains in practice at least occasionally.
78.3% of participating mental health professionals reported addressing nutrition in their practice at least occasionally.
78.5% of participating nutrition professionals discussed mental health with clients at least occasionally.
The sample consisted of 196 professionals including mental health professionals, nutrition professionals, and individuals from related fields.
Participants were recruited through the professional network of the Center for Nutritional Psychology, San Jose, CA, USA, representing a self-selected sample.
Results
Formal training in the complementary field was limited for both professional groups, with most knowledge acquired informally.
25% of all participating nutrition professionals reported no formal training in the complementary field (mental health).
51% of all participating mental health professionals reported no formal training in the complementary field (nutrition).
Most knowledge in the complementary field was acquired informally through self-study or workshops.
11 mental health professionals and 13 nutrition professionals did not answer the question about formal education in the complementary field.
Results
The highest-rated perceived barriers to integration were lack of training, unclear professional boundaries, and lack of a common language.
Barriers were assessed through professional ratings and analyzed using exploratory factor analysis (principal axis factoring, varimax rotation).
Lack of evidence was perceived as the least critical barrier among those rated.
Mann-Whitney U tests with rank-biserial correlation were used to examine ordinal barrier data.
The barrier structure was identified through exploratory rather than confirmatory analysis, reflecting the study's preliminary nature.
Results
Nearly all respondents who answered the question expressed interest in evidence-based interdisciplinary training.
99% of respondents who answered the training interest question (n = 84) expressed interest in evidence-based interdisciplinary training.
However, 112 participants did not respond to this question, meaning only 42% of all 196 participants expressed this interest.
The high non-response rate to this item limits interpretation of overall sample interest.
This finding reflects expressed interest rather than actual participation or enrollment in such training.
Results
A large majority of respondents who answered agreed that collaboration between mental health and nutrition professionals would improve patient outcomes.
96% of those who answered the collaboration question (n = 133) agreed that collaboration would improve patient outcomes.
63 participants did not answer this question, meaning 65% of all participants agreed.
Despite this strong agreement, only 49% of all participating nutrition professionals and 50% of all participating mental health professionals reported having actual collaborative experience.
7 mental health professionals and 16 nutrition professionals did not answer the question about collaborative experiences.
Results
Collaborative experience between mental health and nutrition professionals was reported by approximately half of participants in both professional groups.
49% of all participating nutrition professionals reported having collaborative experience with mental health professionals.
50% of all participating mental health professionals reported having collaborative experience with nutrition professionals.
This suggests a gap between the perceived value of collaboration and actual collaborative practice.
Missing data on this question (7 mental health and 16 nutrition professionals) may affect interpretation.
Conclusions
The study's authors caution that findings from this self-selected sample require confirmation in independently recruited and better-characterized samples.
Participants were recruited through the individual and institutional professional network of the Center for Nutritional Psychology, introducing potential selection bias.
The study used a cross-sectional design with descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney U tests, and exploratory factor analysis.
Total sample size was 196 professionals.
The authors explicitly describe the findings as 'exploratory' and note the need for replication.
What This Means
This research surveyed 196 mental health and nutrition professionals to understand how much they engage with each other's fields, what training they have, what barriers they face, and how interested they are in working together. The study found that most professionals in both groups already touch on each other's domains in practice — about 78% in each group said they at least occasionally address nutrition or mental health with their clients. However, formal training in the other field was limited: about half of mental health professionals and a quarter of nutrition professionals reported no formal training in the complementary area, with most of what they know coming from self-study or informal workshops.
The biggest obstacles professionals identified were a lack of formal training, unclear boundaries about whose professional role covers what, and a lack of shared language between the two fields. Notably, a lack of scientific evidence was seen as the least important barrier, suggesting professionals largely accept that the evidence base exists but that practical and structural challenges are the main hurdles. Despite these barriers, the vast majority of those who responded to relevant questions said they believed collaboration would improve patient outcomes and expressed interest in formal interdisciplinary training programs — though high rates of non-response to these questions mean caution is needed in interpreting how widely these views apply across the full sample.
This research suggests there is both a gap and an opportunity: professionals in mental health and nutrition are already engaging across disciplinary lines, but without adequate formal preparation or established frameworks for doing so. The findings point to potential demand for structured interdisciplinary education and clearer professional guidelines. However, because participants were recruited through the network of an organization specifically focused on nutrition and psychology, they may not represent the broader professional population, and the authors themselves call for replication in more diverse, independently recruited samples before drawing firm conclusions.
Gurrieri R, Hedrih V, Morphew-Lu E. (2026). Integrating Nutrition into Mental Health Care: An Exploratory Cross-Sectional Survey of Training, Practices, Barriers, and Collaboration Among Mental Health and Nutrition Professionals.. Nutrients. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu18162601