Call: Prevention of obesity throughout the life course

Expected Outcome

• Researchers, developers of medical interventions, and health care professionals have a much better understanding of basic biological pathways (genetic and epigenetic blueprints) conferring susceptibility to and protecting against overweight/obesity, i.e. how genetic, epigenetic, environmental, socio-economic and lifestyle factors interact to drive or prevent the transition from normal weight to overweight/obesity throughout the life course.
• Health care professionals, national/regional/local public authorities and other relevant actors (e.g. schools, canteens, hospitals, work places, shopping malls, sport centres):
  • Have access to, adopt and implement evidence-based clinical guidelines, best practices, coordinated, pan-European, multidisciplinary preventive strategies, policy recommendations and/or new policies to fight overweight/obesity and their co-morbidities throughout the life course.
  • Have access to and make use of a robust outcomes framework and tool-kit for standardised collection of economic and cost data related to the prevention and treatment of overweight/obesity and its co-morbidities at population level across European regions and countries.
  • Adopt and implement tailor-made prevention campaigns to tackle overweight/obesity, including campaigns for improving integration of health education into academic learning and raising awareness of health care providers and citizens.
• Citizens have access to and make use of new tools and services to make informed decisions about lifestyle choices that will prevent them from becoming overweight/obese.

Scope:

Obesity is one of the most serious public health challenges of the 21st century. Although health has improved in the EU over the last decades, the prevalence of obesity has tripled in many countries of the EU. It is known that once individuals become overweight or obese, they are at risk of developing related diseases (diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancer). Overweight and obesity are largely preventable. In the current pandemic, the issue of overweight/obesity has become even more prominent, highlighting the need for prevention of overweight/obesity.

Increased efforts in research and innovation are critical for developing and testing the impact of tools, initiatives, interventions, strategies, programmes, policies and their implementation to prevent overweight/obesity. The use of best practices, harmonisation guidelines and/or standard operating procedures, developed at various levels (from local to national) in the EU and beyond, will be the foundation for new research.

Cultural diversity, urban/rural dichotomy, socio-economic status, age groups, sex and gender differences should be investigated, where relevant. Strong collaborations across sectors and with other European projects dealing with issues such as agriculture, aquaculture, food, environment, etc. are welcome. Proposals should engage citizens, civil society organisations (e.g. employers/employee organisations, charities), authorities (e.g. municipalities and health authorities) and institutions (schools, canteens, hospitals, work places, shopping malls, sport centres), local producers, etc. in the development of their actions to ensure acceptability and deployment. Proposals should aim to develop scientifically robust and transparent methodologies, building on achievements from previous research activities.

Proposals should address several of the following research bottlenecks:

• A comprehensive understanding of biological pathways (genetic, epigenetic, molecular, microbiome, and/or neuroimmune) conferring susceptibility to and protecting against uncontrolled “weight gain".
• Identification of socio-economic and lifestyle factors influencing consumer behaviour and their association to overweight/obesity prevention.
• Identification of pre-obesity biomarkers (genetic, laboratory, imaging, etc.) and their association to lifestyle and environmental interventions aiming at obesity prevention and tailored to specific target populations.
• Mapping existing implementation research activities to prevent overweight/obesity, outcome analyses and identification of best practices.
• Conducting a thorough meta-review of information from available scientific literature and identification of the relationship between the risk for overweight/obesity and the biology of obesity, lifestyle habits, exposures, susceptibility to co-morbidities and/or all of their combinations.
• Developing recommendations and guidelines for what constitutes an appropriate healthy diet for different age and health groups.
• Understanding the causal links between overweight/obesity and sedentary behaviour, quality and quantity and types of food/drinks, physical activity, and personality traits.
• Designing a creative and engaging programme to reach the optimal balance between diets and physical activity for the prevention of overweight/obesity.
• Analysing obesity stigma, stress and work-life balance, circadian rhythm disruption, mental health (including psychological problems), screen-time dependency, drugs and side effect of drugs, for the prevention of overweight/obesity.
• Addressing inequality aspects of overweight/obesity at multiple levels, taking into account vulnerable groups, gender and socio-economic factors.
• Setting up pilots to assess the effectiveness of obesity management strategies, including cost-effectiveness, and analyse the impact of inactions, taking into account co-morbidities and value-based care system.
• Developing a system for monitoring population indicators relevant to overweight/obesity by extending European Core Health Indicators.

Proposals should adopt a patient-centred approach that empowers patients, promotes a culture of dialogue and openness between health professionals, patients and their families, and unleashes the potential of social innovation.

Proposals could consider the involvement of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) whose contribution could consists of providing added-value regarding aspects of healthier school environments, effectiveness of policies influencing food preferences as well as improving the food offer and food environment.

All projects funded under this topic are strongly encouraged to participate in networking and joint activities, as appropriate. These networking and joint activities could, for example, involve the participation in joint workshops, the exchange of knowledge, the development and adoption of best practices, or joint communication activities. This could also involve networking and joint activities with projects funded under other clusters and pillars of Horizon Europe, or other EU programmes, as appropriate. Therefore, proposals are expected to include a budget for the attendance to regular joint meetings and may consider to cover the costs of any other potential joint activities without the prerequisite to detail concrete joint activities at this stage. The details of these joint activities will be defined during the grant agreement preparation phase. In this regard, the Commission may take on the role of facilitator for networking and exchanges, including with relevant stakeholders, if appropriate.

eligible non-EU countries:

• countries associated to Horizon Europe

• low-and middle-income countries

Legal entities which are established in countries not listed above will be eligible for funding if provided for in the specific call conditions, or if their participation is considered essential for implementing the action by the granting authority.

Specific cases:

• Affiliated entities - Affiliated entities are eligible for funding if they are established in one of the countries listed above.
• EU bodies - Legal entities created under EU law may also be eligible to receive funding, unless their basic act states otherwise.
• International organisations - International European research organisations are eligible to receive funding. Unless their participation is considered essential for implementing the action by the granting authority, other international organisations are not eligible to receive funding. International organisations with headquarters in a Member State or Associated Country are eligible to receive funding for ‘Training and mobility’actions and when provided for in the specific call conditions.

Unless otherwise provided for in the specific call conditions , legal entities forming a consortium are eligible to participate in actions provided that the consortium includes:

• at least one independent legal entity established in a Member State;and
• at least two other independent legal entities, each established in different Member States or Associated Countries.

Proposal page limits and layout:

• Part A to be filled in directly online  (administrative information, summarised budget, call-specific questions, etc.)
• Part B to be downloaded from the Portal submission system, completed and re-uploaded as a PDF in the system