About MED4Youth
The MED4Youth project has the aim to strengthen the link between the Mediterranean Diet and the health benefits against youth obesity and associated cardiovascular disease risk factors. The project has also the objective to elucidate whether the health effects of Mediterranean Diet are associated with changes in gut microbiota and gut-derived metabolites.
Project partners will carry out an interventional study targeting adolescents with obesity from different Mediterranean countries including Mediterranean products such as nuts, pomegranate, chickpeas and sourdough bread. The study will be complemented with an educational web-application to encourage and sustain healthy behaviours.
I’m a teenager
How can I participate to the project? Professional help for teenagers with obesity
Context
Youth obesity has more than quadrupled over the past 30 years, being its prevalence particularly higher in Mediterranean countries such as Italy, Portugal and Spain.
Obesity is associated with increasing rates of diabetes, hypercholesterolaemia, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and hypertension, which are risk factors for the development of cardiovascular diseases in adulthood. In 2014, 5% of the deaths worldwide were attributable to obesity. On the other hand, cardiovascular diseases are the world leading cause of death with 17.9 million dead each year (WHO -2017 Facts and figures on childhood obesity).
Obesity in the Mediterranean countries
Source: OECD 2014 Health Statistics
Med4Youth study
MED4Youth partners carry out a research study with adolescents to demonstrate that a Mediterranean diet enriched with products typical of the Mediterranean, such as pomegranate, chickpeas/hummus, nuts and sourdough bread, is more effective in maintaining an optimal weight and healthy habits than a conventional low-fat diet among adolescents.
The study is to take place simultaneously in Spain, Italy and Portugal with 80 adolescents’ participants in each country and is being conducted by Eurecat’s Biotechnology Area (Spain), the University of Coimbra (Portugal) and the University of Parma (Italy). It has been reviewed and approved by Clinical Research Ethics Committees in the countries where the clinical interventions take place.
Med4Youth App
The study will be combined with an educational web-application designed to encourage healthy behaviours. The MED4Youth app will allow teenagers to learn about health, nutrition and food in general, and specifically about the Mediterranean Diet.
To help engage participants, a “learning-though-playing” approach will be used, combining together educational materials and games.
Consortium
The success of MED4Youth builds on the expertise of a multidisciplinary team of 6 partners from 5 countries.
3 research performing institutions, 2 research-performing SME’s, 1 farming company
Supporting bodies
Food providers
Participants in the study will be provided with traditional Mediterranean products such as nuts, chickpeas, pomegranate and sourdough bread
