Childhood obesity is a growing public health concern, contributing to long-term health issues, reduced quality of life, and substantial societal costs.

Many factors influence a child’s risk of developing obesity—starting not in childhood but as early as the prenatal stage. The first 1,000 days - from conception through the child’s second birthday - play a critical role in lifelong health and development. Unfavorable conditions during this time can significantly increase the risk of childhood obesity. This period represents a vital window of opportunity to promote both short- and long-term health outcomes.

Research shows that unhealthy lifestyle factors - in both mothers and children - are among the primary drivers of childhood obesity and its related complications. As a result, modifying or avoiding these behaviors is essential. Effective, evidence-based prevention strategies must target nutrition, physical activity, and other lifestyle habits early in life to reduce the risk of obesity and its associated health burdens.

The EndObesity project aims to identify family-based barriers and enablers that influence childhood obesity during preconception, pregnancy, and early childhood. The project focuses on two key goals:

1. Develop a dynamic, population-based prediction model to identify children at risk of developing obesity, enabling early intervention.

    

2. Create innovative, evidence-based strategies that promote healthy lifestyle habits - from preconception through early childhood. These strategies will focus on improving nutrition, physical activity, and overall family health behaviors.

    

EndObesity will implement targeted interventions on both a population level and among high-risk groups, ensuring broad impact and tailored support where it’s needed most.

The project brings together a strong international network - including healthcare professionals, government bodies, educational institutions, industry partners, and parent organizations - to support the rollout and evaluation of these strategies across diverse communities.

The EndObesity project brings together six partners and two collaborators from five countries, combining interdisciplinary expertise across research, healthcare, and parent engagement.

Project Partners

• Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam (Netherlands)

   

• Sarphati Amsterdam (Netherlands)

   

• Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (INSERM) (France)

   

• Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU) (Germany)

   

• University College Dublin (Ireland)

   

• Institut d’Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili (IISPV) (Spain)

   

Project Collaborators

• Global Foundation for the Care of Newborn Infants (GFCNI) (European)

   

• Healthy Start – Young Family Network (Germany)

The Global Foundation for the Care of Newborn Infants (GFCNI) plays a key role in shaping the project from a family-centered care perspective. GFCNI contributes to several work packages and focuses on:

• Developing, implementing, and evaluating early childhood obesity prevention strategies

   

• Creating and reviewing educational materials for parents and caregivers of both preterm and full-term infants

   

• Organizing focus group workshops with parents and caregivers to ensure their voices, experiences, and insights are integrated into project outcomes

   

By prioritizing parent and caregiver engagement, GFCNI helps ensure that prevention strategies are effective, relevant, and widely applicable.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the ERA-NET Cofund action No. 727565.