EU funded project to help adolescents choose healthy diet and active lifestyle

The five-year project of the European Commission Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme is led by Folkehelseinsituttet (FHI/Norwegian Institute of Public Health).

CO-CREATE, which will run until 2023, includes 14 partners from six European countries plus South Africa, Australia and the US.

Adolescents will participate by helping to create, inform and disseminate policies among their peers.

Project leader, Professor Knut-Inge Klepp of FHI, said it will help to reduce overweight and obesity among young people in Europe.

“Instead of trying out single interventions, we will develop methods to evaluate the sum of policy and have a system perspective instead of an individual perspective.”​

By 2025, overweight and obesity are expected to affect one in five European children (or 16 million), said FHI.

In Norway, the proportion of children impacted has stabilised in recent years. Overall, between 15 and 20% are obese or overweight, equivalent to every sixth child.

Other partners include Universiteit van Amsterdam, World Obesity Federation and World Cancer Research Fund International (UK), Deakin University (Australia), University of Cape Town and University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

Kate Allen, executive director of science and public affairs at World Cancer Research Fund International, said participation recognises its expertise in policy research and analysis in diet, weight and physical activity.

“We look forward to supporting governments to develop and implement effective policies that create healthy environments for children and young people in Europe."​