The ENERGY project is halfway

From August 29-31 we had the 'midterm' meeting of the EuropeaN Energy balance Research to prevent excessive weight Gain among Youth (ENERGY) project a Framework 7 European Commission funded project coordinated by the EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research. The midterm meeting was organised by and held at the University of Oslo, department of Nutrition. Halfway through the project we have conducted a series of systematic reviews that have or will soon be submitted for publication on family environmental determinants of obesity related behavioral nutrition and physical activity, on mediators and moderators of obesity prevention intervention effects, and of economic incentives in such interventions. Secondary analyses and focus group interviews have been conducted to gain more insight in the above mentioned determinants. But maybe most importantly, in the firts 18 months a cross European school-based, family involved survey study has been conducted among more than 7000 children in 7 countries across Europe. In this survey study, school children were measured for weight, height and waist circumference, they completed questionnaires on a range of dietary , physical activity and sedentary behaviors, and a sub sample wore accelerometers to assess their physical activity more objectively and gave blood samples for further biomarker evaluation. The data set is now being checked and cleaned and will soon be ready for first analyses. A copy of the design paper van be accessed here. A protocol paper for the survey study will soon be submitted for publication. We celebrated this accomplishment with a nice Norwegian see food dinner that was further enriched with a great musical performance by a Norwegian four female vocal group.

In the second half of the project an intervention to contribute to evidence-based obesity prevention among schoolchildren in Europe will be developed and tested in five countries. The meeting was largely dedicated to the first steps of mapping this intervention.