LIFECYCLE’s general objective is to change the increasing sedentary lifestyles by adding physical activity to the daily routines of people. LIFECYLCE aims to integrate cycling as the main mean of transportation as a daily physical activity routine.
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The project aims to trigger discussion on the role physical activity and nutrition play in the prevention of non-communicable diseases. The objective is to ensure continuity of discussion on this topic by passing it ‘as a baton’ from one EU presidency to another.
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In all EU Member states (MS), the high level of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents is of particular concern. In the EU, around 1 in 3 children 6-9 years old were overweight or obese in 2010, a sharp rise in prevalence despite numerous MS or EU initiatives.Physical inactivity and poor diet from birth (and even in utero) are important determinants of adiposity leading to overweight and obesity. They are also independently associated with various non-communicable disease risk factors leading to the main pathologies European populations are suffering from, including detrimental psychosocial outcomes. Overweight and obesity represent an economic burden with up to 7% of EU health budgets spent each year directly on diseases linked to obesity, with more indirect costs resulting from lost productivity. Nutritional problems and physical inactivity need to be addressed in an integrated way so as to promote healthier environments, to make the healthy option the easiest option and to inform and empower families.Within the general frame of the EU Action plan on childhood obesity 2014-2020, the JA’s general objective is to contribute to halting the rise in overweight and obesity in children and adolescents by 2020. Through the, identification, selection and sharing of best data and practices within the 25 countries involved, the JA will allow for : to advocate based on an estimation and forecast of economic cost of overweight and obesity; to improve the implementation of integrated interventions to promote nutrition and physical activity for pregnant women, families with young children; to improve actions within school settings; and to increase the use of nutritional information on foods by public health authorities, stakeholders and families for nutrition policy purposes. The JA will reinforce the links between national nutrition and physical activity policies initiated by the EU Strategy on nutrition, overweight and obesity-related health issues.
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PATHE is designed to build on the infrastructure of national associations of physical activity that currently represent over 70 million Europeans. The two overall objectives of PATHE are:
support and strengthen ‘Sport for all’ organisations in the development of their own health and physical activity promotion campaigns and initiatives;
actively implement the EC public health strategy (European dimension) into existing and planned national grassroots initiatives.
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