PROJECT BATMAN – CHILDREN AT THE TABLE

Project BATMAN – Children at the Table is a study that aims to prevent childhood overweight and obesity and is also associated with a web awareness campaign to promote the health of all children: at the hashtag #ProgettoBATMANBambiniATavola on social networks you will find contest, tasty recipes prepared by children with wholesome ingredients and posts to share to stimulate us to a healthier lifestyle. Here is the social play project dedicated to all children.

Children (Bambini in italian) At the Table; Reasons (Motivazioni in italian) inducing difficulties in the Application of correct Nutrition and Lifestyle Norms by children aged 3 to 10 years in an overweight or obese condition.

The project, implemented with the support of IOR, Istituto Oncologico Romagnolo, the sponsorship of ANDID – Associazione Nazionale Dietisti, and the collaboration of ScimPulse Foundation, aims to help families of children with overweight or obesity conditions through a free nutritional pathway that conveys the knowledge of proper nutrition and lifestyle useful to the child; at the same time, it aims to identify the obstacles and difficulties that are sometimes encountered by families in achieving a healthy lifestyle.

In fact, despite the many health promotion programs carried out in Italy, one in three children has weight problems: 20.9 percent are overweight and 9.8 percent are obese (“OKkio alla SALUTE,” 2014 report): therefore, one in three children has weight problems, resulting in important repercussions on the physical and psychological health of young children.

The video for the presentation in Geneva at CERN of the BATMAN project, at Collision 69192.7, a Scimpulse Foundation event (9/23-25/15).

So many times, health -promoting interventions are not sufficient to implement a lasting change in lifestyle, given that Italian children’s adherence to the Mediterranean diet – which inspires so many of the initiatives for prevention – was among the lowest in Europe. The goal is to provide useful tools for parents to promote the health of their child, taking into great consideration the adult’s point of view, which provides us with valuable information to overcome possible shortcomings of the interventions and propose truly useful and practical actions.

The issue with childhood obesity is, in fact, a delicate one to deal with, also because of the psychological implications that it can cause. It is therefore possible to propose effective interventions, only by investigating the prejudices or perceived difficulties, which do not allow us to progress, from the information about the behaviors suggested by pediatricians or the preventive interventions, to putting those suggested strategies into practice, or even choose not to adhere.

The BATMAN project will affect preschool and elementary school children (between the ages of 3 and 10) who are overweight or obese but without concomitant diseases, who will receive free nutritional screenings at Dr. Acquaviva’s outpatient clinic at Corso Matteotti 27 in Faenza (RA).

We invite all interested families to participate in the project, which will be helpful in improving their child’s health and creating awareness and, through the collaboration of the participants, provide the tools really needed to put it into practice.

• First nutritional visit to the children in the presence of a family member who will fill out a questionnaire, a food chart, recipes and useful tools to promote the health of the little one will be provided.
• Second visit to children to check the effectiveness of nutritional interventions, the family member will fill out a new questionnaire.
• Final family meeting in the presence of the dietician and an IRST psychologist – Simultaneously play program on proper nutrition for children.
• Monitoring of the child’s weight after 3 and 6 months by the pediatrician.

The families that are interested in participating or more information can write to Annamaria Acquaviva (project manager): info@annamariaacquaviva.com or call +39 335 1943070.

Project BATMAN is also associated with a web awareness campaign to promote children’s health: through contests involving challenges in the preparation of healthy dishes united with the hashtag #ProgettoBatmanBambiniATavola you will find tasty recipes and posts to share that will stimulate a healthy lifestyle: find everything here.

The Project’s purpose was deemed praiseworthy by ANDID, National Association of Dietitians, which selected it as one of the winners of the “A Good Idea Is Wanted” competition as part of the “Dietitian’s Week” initiative, which was created to promote the profession nationwide by spreading the culture of proper nutrition.

Promoting the health of our children is crucial: “If we treat them we help them today, if we educate them we help them throughout their lives.” (WHO, World Health Organization).

At the end of the initiative, children and families’; participation in the BATMAN project.

Photocredits:
Image on childhood obesity and its complications by friend and colleague Dr. Mario Mauro Amato; edited from THE LANCET, 2002 360, 473-482.

Some articles or TV reports that have covered the project:
Corriere della sera: Why is it so hard to eat healthy? Obese children, new research kicks off
Telesanterno: Bambini a tavola. Quasi un gioco!
RavennaToday: Overweight children, the Batman project starts in Faenza
The Stork Blog: #PROJECTBATMAN: OBESE CHILDREN ALSO NO
Romagna Mamma: Obese or overweight children, games and recipe competitions to change lifestyle
RAI TRE: Interview for Buongiorno Regione program