̽»¨¾«Ñ¡

Over the past few decades, the prevalence of overweight and obesity has escalated, evolving into a silent global epidemic. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), these conditions are responsible for over 2.8 million deaths annually, with 1.2 million occurring in Europe alone.

To understand obesity, all determinants must be considered. These include well-established factors like genetics, eating patterns, physical activity, and sleep routines, as well as often overlooked aspects such as socioeconomic conditions.

The BETTER4U project approaches the issue from a multifactorial perspective, examining the root causes of weight gain in the general adult population and within specific marginalized groups. By doing so, the project aims to develop tailored, evidence-based digital interventions that empower individuals to adopt healthier lifestyles, ultimately contributing to longer and healthier lives.

Thus, BETTER4U plans to:

1) Conduct in-depth analyses of parameters potentially linked to the development of obesity, such as genetics, microbiome, socio-economic factors, geography, culture, and lifestyle.

2) Formulate a weight gain prevention intervention that incorporates technology-assisted real-time monitoring and tools (app and smartwatch) for delivering automatic and individualized feedback to participants. These tools will be powered by an AI model trained on data from pilot studies conducted across seven European countries.

3) Identify implementation barriers, facilitators, and outcomes with the aim of developing obesity prevention guidelines, applying a person-centered care approach.