Annals of Medicine

Healthy Lifestyle Interventions: Impacts on Health, Cognition, Epigenetics, and Physical and Psycho-Social Functioning

This new Article Collection in Annals of Medicine aims to examine the impact of healthy lifestyle interventions, tailored to specific populations, on health outcomes—including physical and mental health, cognitive, physical, and psychosocial functioning—and behavioural outcomes such as physical activity, diet, and sleep. Additionally, these studies and reviews hope to elucidate how individual characteristics, epigenetic modifications, biomarkers, psycho-social, and environmental factors—both independently and interactively—influence the effectiveness of healthy lifestyle interventions on health and behavioural outcomes in specific populations.

Empirical evidence demonstrates that healthy lifestyle interventions effectively improve physical and mental health, as well as cognitive, psycho-social, and physical functioning across the lifespan. However, the degree to which individuals and specific groups benefit from these interventions varies significantly among diverse populations. To implement precision healthy lifestyle intervention tailored to distinct populations and to optimize health and behavioural outcomes, it is essential to identify which interventions are most beneficial for whom, and when, based on specific study outcomes. To understand the mechanisms driving individual and population-level differences in response, we must elucidate how intrinsic and extrinsic factors—both independently and interactively—contribute to variability in intervention effectiveness. Refining precision healthy lifestyle interventions to maximize benefits for individuals and specific populations holds promises for enhancing physical, cognitive, and psychosocial health throughout the lifespan.

This Article Collection welcomes Original Research articles and Reviews. Subjects and subtopics may include, but are not limited to:

• The effectiveness of healthy lifestyle interventions on improving and sustaining physical and mental health outcomes across the lifespan.
• The effects of healthy lifestyle interventions on enhancing and maintaining cognitive, psychosocial, and physical functioning in both general and specific populations throughout the lifespan.
• The role of healthy lifestyle interventions in promoting and sustaining active and healthy behaviours in diverse populations over time
• The independent and synergistic influences of epigenetic, biomarker, psychosocial, and environmental factors on individual and population responses to healthy lifestyle interventions, with respect to health and behavioural outcomes.

Keywords:

• Healthy behaviours
• Lifestyle interventions
• Physical and mental health
• Cognitive, psycho-social, and physical functioning
• Epigenetics
• Biomarkers

Meet the Guest Advisor

Dr. Weiyun Chen is a tenured associate professor of Applied Exercise Science and Director of the Physical Activity and Health Laboratory in the School of Kinesiology at the University of Michigan. Dr. Chen’s research focuses on developing, implementing, and evaluating physical activity (PA) interventions in PA behaviors, functional fitness, cognitive functions, mental health, and psychological well-being across life spans. She has published 105 articles on peer-reviewed journals, with most being the first or senior/ corresponding author. She has delivered over 210 presentations, including 68 invited keynote and featured speaking at international and national conferences.

Submission information

All manuscripts submitted to this Article Collection will undergo a full peer-review; the Guest Advisors for this Collection will not be handling the manuscripts (unless they are an Editorial Board member). The Guest Advisors declare no conflict of interests. Please review the journal scope and author submission instructions prior to submitting a manuscript.

The deadline for submitting manuscripts is 1st July 2027.

Please submit your manuscript on our website, selecting "Healthy Lifestyle Interventions: Impacts on Health, Cognition, Epigenetics, and Physical and Psycho-Social Functioning" from the drop-down menu for consideration in this Article Collection. Select the most appropriate section for your manuscript, for example, Pediatrics, Geriatrics, Public Health, or Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Please include any discount codes before you submit as these codes will not be applied retrospectively. For Article Collection and/or discount queries, please contact the Commissioning Editor Francis Straw at francis.straw@tandf.co.uk