UnDErstanding consumer food choices & promotion of healthy and sustainable Mediterranean diet and LIfestyle in Children and adolescents through behavIOUral change actionS: the DELICIOUS project

Abstract Over the last decades, the abandonment of traditional dietary patterns and engagement in unhealthy lifestyles (including poor physical activity, prolonged screen time, poor sleep behaviours) in children and adolescents has been considered an important threat for the future health of the younger generations living in the Mediterranean area and the safeguard of the environment. The DELICIOUS project aims to promote healthy lifestyles among children and adolescents by implementing activities and tools to increase the adherence to the Mediterranean diet with an attention to the environmental impacts of dietary habits. The DELICIOUS project as a single-arm, uncontrolled behavioral intervention program providing formal and non-formal education activities, development of new snacks and recipe reformulation, web/mobile app development, and physical activities to school children and adolescents in five European countries. Over 2000 families joined a preliminary survey to investigate potential determinants of adherence to a healthy diet. Children and adolescents recruited from schools in the parterns’ countries are now currently being recruited to participate to the intervention activities. A web application for school canteen and a mobile application for parents have been developed to help both schools and families to track and provide healthy and sustainable meals. The project aims to increase awareness of the nutritional benefits and the sustainability aspects of the Mediterranean Diet and to promote consumers’ empowerment through an online platform for sustainable and healthy meal planning in the school canteen.