HEALTH Up!

  • Project name: HEALTH UP! PREVENTING EATING DISORDERS IN VET
    EDUCATION

  • Project number: 2024-1-ES01-KA220-VET-000244614

  • Duration: 01/12/2024 - 31/05/2027

  • Project website: www.healthupproject.eu

It is estimated that 20 million people suffer from eating disorders in Europe. These are mainly diagnosed among Young people between 15-25 years old (especially women), although in the last years, an increasing number of cases have been shown in even younger age groups.

An eating disorder, as defined by different European health services, is “a mental health condition where the patient uses food to cope with feelings and other situations”. Eating disorders arise from a variety of factors (social, psychological, physical, environmental…). However, the COVID-19 pandemic, and its social repercussions, caused an alarming increase of cases, together with a negative impact on the recovery of people previously suffering from these disorders.

The pandemic and its social isolation had mental and physical consequences on young people. Around 50% of Young Europeans reported in 2021 and 2022 a lack of adequate support to ensure a good mental health. Other worrying statistics were also collected: young people have decreased the time they spent engaging in physical activity, and the nutrition habits of the European youth population have worsened. The combination of these factors (mental health, nutrition habits, physical habits, and social habits) is key in understanding the increasing rates of eating disorders in the EU.

Therefore, the main target of VET education (young people around 16-25 years old) is also the main target victim of eating disorders. VET centres are the places where students spend most of their time; therefore, they are the perfect place to counteract the factors that are triggering eating disorders. However, they miss the tools to achieve this aim. Different organisations in the EU provide information about eating disorder prevention, but they are usually focused on the youth families, not on the role of trainers.

There is a need to provide VET staff with tools that will help them discern if a student may be suffering from an eating disorder, and how it would be adequate to prevent it. The main MOTIVATION of HEALTH UP! is to solve this need, providing VET trainers with specific tools that will help them correctly understand, prevent and reduce the number of eating disorders in the EU youth population.

The project has the following objectives:

  • Reducing the risk of eating disorders among the young population of the EU.
  • Promoting the integration of a healthy lifestyle among young people.
  • Assisting VET trainers in developing and utilising tools to engage in the prevention of eating disorders and instruct them in spotting potential cases.
  • Educating a new generation to face the compounding issues and risks of eating disorders.
  • Creating new learning opportunities for trainers and teachers.
  • Promoting education and new market opportunities for VET students in the nutrition and physical activity sectors

To achieve them, the consortium will create:

  • A guide to educate about eating disorders, from a formal point of view, with clear information and contact points at European level useful to readers.
  • Two workshops manuals: one focused on nutrition, and one focused on mental health, social and physical activities. The workshop manuals will include activities to implement in the classroom, at home, and through an app.
  • An app to access the content in a dynamic and user-friendly way.

Project partners

The consortium is formed of:

Spain

VALENCIA CULINARY CENTER S.L.

Spain

Universidad de Zaragoza (UNIZAR)

Netherlands

European Federation of the Associations of Dietitians (EFAD)

Greece

KENTRO MERIMNAS OIKOGENEIAS KAI PAIDIOU (KMOP)

Italy

LULA Consulting

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