The ELIKUME project has started the second phase of intervention this academic year 2024-2025, with the aim of continuing to know the eating habits and the nutritional status of children attending nursery schools municipalities of Pamplona, and which already offer healthy and sustainable menus. During the 2023-2024 academic year, approximately 80 families participated in the project and are now looking reach 160 to obtain conclusive results and definitive.
The project It is aimed at families of children between 18 and 36 months of the Pamplona municipal nursery schools. Those interested in participating can register on the project website, www.elikume.com, where you can also find more information about it.
It’s a initiative financed by the Health Department of the Government of Navarrathrough its call for “Research projects in health sciences 2022”, and which starts from the hypothesis that the training and awareness raising offered to families It will help improve lifestyles, mainly adherence to a healthy diet, thereby reducing the rate of overweight and obesity among children and improving the health of society, the Executive said in a note.
Currently, a first preliminary analysis of the data obtained so far. In addition, in 2019, a first pilot intervention was carried out with more than 80 families with children between 2 and 3 years old, who are currently in the follow-up phase at 6-7 years old. With these data, we seek to detect whether different lifestyle habits from preschool age correlate with adherence to the Mediterranean diet and the obesity rate from school age. The results obtained are expected to be presented at the congress of the Spanish Association of Primary Care Pediatrics (AEPAP) and serve to guide and target the current intervention of ELIKUME.
He research team is made up of professionals from Navarre Association of Pediatricsthe autonomous organization of the Municipal Infant Schools of Pamplona and the Public University of Navarra (Faculty of Health Sciences), with the collaboration of the Health Research Institute of Navarra (IdiSNA) and biomedical research Navarrabiomed.
The project is led by Edurne Ciriza, pediatrician at Ansoáin Health Centerin collaboration with the nutritionists Izaskun Berasategi (nutritionist of the municipal nursery schools of Pamplona), Isabel Juániz (nutritionist and researcher of the project) and María Medrano (physical educator and researcher and professor at the Public University of Navarra).
FAMILIES OF CHILDREN BETWEEN 18 AND 36 MONTHS
The project consists of a intervention program which involves families of children between 18 and 36 months from municipal nursery schools in Pamplona.
The ffamilies who randomly belong to the intervention group will have the opportunity to participate in online training designed exclusively for the project on healthy lifestyle habits and active lifestyles which includes, among other things, topics on healthy eating (purchasing healthy and sustainable foods at school and at home, cooking workshops), physical activity, as well as different resources (videos, recipes, blog articles solving common doubts) to work at home.
This training, voluntary and free, can positively influence the health of children from childhood and throughout their lives. All families must complete an initial and final assessment using online questionnaires to test the hypothesis of the effect of online training on lifestyles.
RESEARCH CONTEXT
The initiative arises from HEMENGOAK Projectdeveloped by the Pamplona City Council, which has managed to implement healthy menus in nursery schools in the Navarrese capital, made from sustainable, ecological, fresh and seasonal quality products and purchased from local producers.
Likewise, the World Health Organization declares that it is a priority to promote access to healthier food and the promotion of more active and less sedentary lifestyles, both within the family and at school, from an early age. For this reason, the training of families who attend these schools could help improve nutrition and lifestyles outside of schools, thus helping to improve the health of the child population more generally, the government added.
This Ininvestigation will support other similar initiatives continue to adapt school menus to healthy and sustainable eating and promote joint actions from the food, education and health sectors to promote healthy lifestyles in our society.
If it is demonstrated that the setting up these menus and the implementation of nutritional educational actions have the capacity to improve the attitude of families towards children’s diet, their adherence to the Mediterranean diet and to reduce the risk of overweight and obesity, the study could serve as a basis for designing a comprehensive approach aimed at promoting healthy habits, “thus contributing to improving the health of the child population and their families”.
