Increasing evidence demonstrates that risk factors for chronic diseases are established during childhood and adolescence, but the relationship between the development of diseases and adolescent development is poorly understood. Adolescence is a crucial period in life and involves multiple physiological and psychological changes that affect nutritional needs and habits.
HELENA (Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence) is a European collaborative research project. The basic objective of HELENA is to obtain reliable and comparable data over three years from 3,500 European adolescents (boys and girls aged 12.5–17.5 years) on relevant nutrition and health-related parameters such as dietary intake, food choices and preferences, vitamin and mineral status, physical activity, and fitness.
The project unites 20 research centers from ten European countries: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
De Henauw S. et al. Nutritional status and lifestyles of adolescents from a public health perspective. The HELENA Project—Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence. J Public Health, 2007; 15:187–197.