Evidence-based development of school-based and family-involved prevention of overweight across Europe: The ENERGY-project's design and conceptual framework

Johannes Brug, Saskia J. te Velde, Mai J.M. Chinapaw, Elling Bere, Ilse de Bourdeaudhuij, Helen Moore, Lea Maes, Jørgen Dejgård Jensen, Yannis Manios, Nanna Lien, Knut Inge Klepp, Tim Lobstein, Marloes Martens, Jo Salmon, Amika S. Singh

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    Abstract

    Background: There is an urgent need for more carefully developed public health measures in order to curb the obesity
    epidemic among youth. The overall aim of the "EuropeaN Energy balance Research to prevent excessive weight Gain
    among Youth" (ENERGY)-project is the development and formative evaluation of a theory-informed and evidencebased
    multi-component school-based and family-involved intervention program ready to be implemented and
    evaluated for effectiveness across Europe. This program aims at promoting the adoption or continuation of health
    behaviors that contribute to a healthy energy balance among school-aged children. Earlier studies have indicated that
    school and family environments are key determinants of energy-balance behaviors in schoolchildren. Schools are an
    important setting for health promotion in this age group, but school-based interventions mostly fail to target and
    involve the family environment.
    Methods: Led by a multidisciplinary team of researchers from eleven European countries and supported by a team of
    Australian experts, the ENERGY-project is informed by the Environmental Research Framework for Weight gain
    Prevention, and comprises a comprehensive epidemiological analysis including 1) systematic reviews of the literature,
    2) secondary analyses of existing data, 3) focus group research, and 4) a cross European school-based survey.
    Results and discussion: The theoretical framework and the epidemiological analysis will subsequently inform
    stepwise intervention development targeting the most relevant energy balance-related behaviors and their personal,
    family-environmental and school-environmental determinants applying the Intervention Mapping protocol. The
    intervention scheme will undergo formative and pilot evaluation in five countries. The results of ENERGY will be
    disseminated among key stakeholders including researchers, policy makers and the general population.
    Conclusions: The ENERGY-project is an international, multidisciplinary effort to develop and test an evidence-based
    and theory-informed intervention program for obesity prevention among school-aged children.
    Original languageEnglish
    JournalBMC Public Health
    Volume10
    Issue number276
    Number of pages10
    ISSN1471-2458
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2010

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