Cochrane formally approved the establishment of the Cochrane Nutrition Field in May 2016, under the leadership of Cochrane South Africa, the South African Medical Research Council, and the Centre for Evidence-based Health Care (CEBHC), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, along with international partners.

Cochrane Nutrition's vision is for Cochrane to be the independent, globally recognised go-to place for nutrition systematic reviews. Its aim is to support and enable evidence-informed decision-making for nutrition policy and practice by advancing the preparation and use of high-quality, globally relevant nutrition-related Cochrane reviews.

A Cochrane Field is responsible for disseminating evidence related to the field's topic area, building relationships with relevant stakeholders within and outside of Cochrane, coordinating methods research for conducting reviews, and supporting authors of relevant reviews, among other activities. The topic area usually focuses on a cross-cutting dimension of healthcare not specific to a certain body system or healthcare condition.

Cochrane Nutrition aims to coordinate activities related to nutrition reviews within Cochrane; to ensure that priority nutrition reviews are conducted with rigorous methodological approaches; and, to promote the use of evidence from nutrition systematic reviews to inform healthcare decision-making.

The objectives of Cochrane Nutrition include:

• Increasing the coverage, quality and relevance of Cochrane nutrition reviews;
• Increasing the impact of Cochrane nutrition reviews across all stakeholders;
• Contributing to strengthening methods for conducting Cochrane nutrition reviews; and
• Ensuring the sustainability of the Field      

Representatives from the following organisations participated in the exploratory meeting for establishing Cochrane Nutrition (in person or via videoconference): Cochrane South Africa at the South African Medical Research Council, Centre for Evidence-based Health Care at Stellenbosch University, Effective Health Care Research Consortium at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Cochrane Complementary Medicine, Cochrane Child Health, Cochrane Fields Executive Committee, Cochrane Editorial Unit, Cochrane Central Executive, Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell University, Cochrane Developmental, Psychosocial and Learning Problems Group, Deakin University, Cochrane Metabolic & Endocrine Disorders Group, Campbell Collaboration International Development Coordinating Group, University of Ottawa, Bruyère Research Institute and Aga Khan University.

Representatives from the following organisations were unable to attend the exploratory meeting, but expressed their support for establishing Cochrane Nutrition: Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group, Cochrane Dementia and Cognitive Improvement Group, Cochrane Hepato-Biliary Group, Cochrane Renal Group, Cochrane Central Executive, University of East Anglia, University of Warwick, Cochrane Germany, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, The University of Sydney, Wageningen University, Cochrane Switzerland, WHO Department of Nutrition for Health and Development, Effective Care Research Unit and the South African Medical Research Council.

Cochrane Nutrition is partly funded by the Research, Evidence and Development Initiative (READ-It) project. READ-It (project number 300342-104) is funded by UK aid from the UK government; however, the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the UK government’s official policies.