University of Ulster senior lecturer Dr Deirdre Brennan is to join an EU-wide project to find the best ways of promoting healthy lifestyles to children.
Dr Brennan, from the School of Sports Studies will contribute to the European Food Framework to try and establish a food, nutrition and lifestyle model to help reduce an increasing level of obesity among young people.
Grant funding for this project has been awarded by The Coca-Cola Foundation, a philanthropic organisation.
Dr Brennan said that the project aims to develop a framework that governments can introduce to help develop a healthier population. “The most important thing is educating young people in the ways of living a healthy lifestyle. As well as an importance of focusing on healthy eating, there is an equal importance on physical activity.”
The two-year project, co-ordinated by the British Nutrition Foundation, is hoping that the model, if adopted, will promote healthy lifestyles to children aged between five and 16.
In January, the School of Sports Studies also launched a Sport for Life programme to encourage primary school children to participate in physical activity for life.