Obstacles and Facilitators to Healthy Dietary Habits in Individuals with a Psychotic Disorder: A Systematic Review

Individuals diagnosed with psychotic disorders have reduced life expectancy, primarily attributed to cardiovascular diseases exacerbated by lifestyle habits and antipsychotic side effects. Poor diet quality, marked by low fruit and vegetable consumption and high discretionary food intake are also at play. Limited information exists on factors influencing healthy dietary habits in this population. This systematic review aims to analyze qualitative and quantitative data, from the past 20 years, on obstacles and facilitators to healthy dietary habits among individuals with psychotic disorders. PsycINFO, PubMed and Google scholar searches with these inclusion criteria were conducted: (a) peer-reviewed articles, (b) participants are adults, (c) at least 30% or more of the sample had a psychotic disorder, and (d) focus on obstacles, facilitators or interventions related to healthy dietary habits. Among 21 identified articles, 14 addressed obstacles 11 discussed facilitators and 12 proposed interventions. This review identified seven key obstacles (cost and accessibility, taste of healthy food, emotional role of food, social environment, cognitive challenges, symptoms, and medication) and four facilitators (social support, health-related motivation, improved self-perception and interventions). Notably, some factors, such as social support and neighborhood environment, emerged as both obstacles and facilitators depending on the context. Access to effective interventions, including educational resources, such as cooking and planning skills, and more research on group therapy and peer-based programs are discussed.