On the 20th and 21st of March, the CEIDSS team, attending both in person and online, participated in the 2nd Plenary Meeting of the Better4U project, in Vienna.

Better4U is an EU-funded project focused on developing personalised interventions to prevent and reduce overweight and obesity. The CEIDSS team joined both in person and online, actively taking part in the important discussions

During the meeting, the project consortium discussed the progress made so far, completed and upcoming tasks and deliverables, as well as each partner’s contributions. The next steps were also outlined and planned.

On February 24th, our nutritionist Marta Gaspar participated as a speaker at the VII Nutrition Science Conference, organized by the Nutrition Science Student Association of UTAD, representing CEIDSS.

Marta Gaspar took part in the panel on “Nutrition and Public Health,” where she discussed the topic “Fighting Malnutrition and Obesity,” an area in which CEIDSS has developed various projects and initiatives, maintaining its commitment to public health.

In January, the first intervention sessions of the MUN-SI Programme began in schools across the municipalities of Oeiras and Cascais.

Developed for over 15 years by CEIDSS, with the support of local municipalities, the programme’s main goal is to promote healthy eating habits within the school community.

For the current school year, the selected themes are the Mediterranean Diet, Healthy Snacks, and the food waste at school.

Learn more about the programme and its annual interventions in the municipalities HERE.

On November 15th, EPHNA organized a Lunch Symposium at the EPH Annual 2024, focusing on transforming food environments across Europe.

The event showcased strategies and interventions from countries like Belgium and Ireland, aimed at improving food literacy and promoting healthier eating habits.

Ana Rito, Director of CEIDSS, moderated the session, introducing the theme and highlighting EPHNA’s role in advancing public health.

The symposium aimed to empower participants to apply research findings and effective strategies to foster healthier food environments within their communities.

On November 11th, the Local Health Profile of Cascais was publicly presented, developed by professionals from ULS Lisboa Ocidental. The profile highlights key indicators that influence health in the municipality of Cascais.

Since 2019, the MUN-SI Programme, coordinated by CEIDSS, has been implemented in primary schools across the municipality. In addition to classroom interventions, several indicators related to children and their families are evaluated annually.

Some of the indicators collected and analysed by the MUN-SI Programme are included in the profile under the section “Behavioural Risk Factors”, such as child nutritional status, fruit consumption, and physical inactivity among school-aged children.

You can consult the data included in the Local Health Profile HERE.

On November 11th, CEIDSS hosted the annual meeting of the European Public Health Nutrition Alliance (EPHNA) at the National Institute of Health Doutor Ricardo Jorge.

EPHNA is an alliance that brings together various European organizations dedicated to public health nutrition, in which CEIDSS is included representing Portugal. The mission is binding forces for a healthier Europe.

The session began with an update on WHO activities, including a discussion led by Kremlin Wickramasinghe and Olga Zhiteneva from the WHO Regional Office for Europe. They presented their work on policies to protect children from the harmful impact of food marketing.

Samuele Tonello also participated in the meeting and the gave a detailed overview of EuroHealthNet’s essential work, highlighting its initiatives to promote healthier food systems and improve nutrition across Europe.

The day was also marked by productive discussions about future strategies and policy plan for EPHNA. Participants took part in a brainstorming session to explore possible activities and opportunities for EPHNA in the coming years.

Ana Rito and Inês Figueira contributed to the chapter “Worldwide Institutional Policies to End Childhood Obesity” in the recently launched book “Childhood Obesity: From Basic Knowledge to Effective Prevention.” This book provides a comprehensive approach to childhood obesity, presents a multi-omics description of the early origins of childhood obesity, and includes innovative strategies to treat and prevent obesity in children.

Learn more about the book HERE.

On 13th and 14th of June 2024, CEIDSS participated in the 1st Plenary Meeting of BETTER4U project in Thessaloniki, Greece.

In this meeting, the Consortium discussed the progress of the project’s tasks, deliverables, contributions of each partner and it was defined the workplan and the next steps.

The 10+1 Santorini Conference “Systems Medicine and Personalised Health and Therapy – The Odyssey from Hope to Practice”, took place in Greece from 21st to 24th of May 2024. This Conference aimed to create interactions among disciplines, as well as exchanges between basic, industrial and medical research directed around a scientific content towards an effective ‘roadmap’ for personalised health and therapy.

In the scope of the EU-project BETTER4U, CEIDSS Director, Ana Rito presented a poster entitled: “Interventions to monitor and tackle obesity at European level: lessons learned to support BETTER4U project”.

CEIDSS is a partner of this European project, contributing to the behavioural and environmental indicator related to weight gain, carrying out a pilot study and the development of the randomized controlled trial. Additionally, CEIDSS team will implement and continuous monitor the intervention as well as contribute to the assessment of the intervention´s cost-effectiveness and budget impact.

Know more about this project HERE.