This 3 year project (January 2006 - December 2008), called Shape Up, is a unique design for a European collaboration action-oriented project addressing young people, health and obesity. Our child-cent...
This 3 year project (January 2006 - December 2008), called Shape Up, is a unique design for a European collaboration action-oriented project addressing young people, health and obesity. Our child-centred approach views children and schools as catalysts of health-promoting actions at a community level. It is built on and utilises the main experiences developed within the European Network of Health Promoting School. It builds on the hidden, often neglected capacities of schools to involve children in taking action to bring about changes in behaviours and living conditions that directly question the way we eat and move. Shape Up develops a participatory framework to have the school and the surrounding community started a constructive dialog on the many dimensions of eating including diet and nutrition, aesthetics and taste, food availability and production conditions, social relationships and societal image. This dialog also covers the various representations of body movement, considering not only physical exercise but also play, body image, and mobility conditions. A comprehensive network of 26 cities covering 25 Member States has been created to test and evaluate the framework in participating schools involving children aged 4 to 16. This geographical coverage fully accounts for the importance of cultural and geographical diversity in explaining child obesity determinants. We have paid special attention to select different environments to assess the impact of immigration, deprived economies, semi-urban settings, highly urbanized areas, medium-high level of incomes, sustainable urban planning policies. The relevance of the methodological approach for designing a common European framework for all Shape Up schools is first that it treats children as legitimate partners in influencing behaviours and living conditions related to eating and movement, and recognizes that no effective change is possible without involving adult stakeholders as essential and necessary participants. Second this approach allows for greater cultural and socioeconomic sensitivity (adjustment to the local and national conditions), which will not only ensure the outcomes in terms of the project’s specific objectives, but will also result in larger commitment and sense of ownership among participants, crucial in ensuring both effectiveness and sustainability. Shape Up`s specific objectives cover research, training, community participation, evaluation and dissemination and will all be dealt with in separate workpackages. On the research side, Shape Up will establish a common understanding of the main concepts related to the holistic approach to child obesity and more generally to a balanced growing-up. On the training side, Shape Up builds new capacities for teachers and local actors. On the community participation side, Shape Up will develop local activities in 26 cities and European synergies between all of them. On the evaluation side, precise indicators will measure Shape Up real impact in changing behaviours and living conditions regarding eating and body movement and assess the validity of the participatory framework. On the dissemination side, all results will be made visible locally and European-wide through Shape Up weeks in all cities. These specific objectives include also the creation of an internet portal www.shapeupeurope.net that helps managing the whole project and working continuously towards its extension. The Shape Up Competence Centres (P.A.U. Educatio