🌟Health4EUkids kick out meeting in Helsinki (Finland)🌟

The “Health4EUkids” joint action of the EU4Health European project co-funded by European Union and HaDEA is included in the field of health promotion and prevention of non-communicable diseases, indicating best practices and specific risk factors from research results on childhood obesity that have already been developed from previous research actions, namely Grünau Moves (Germany) and Smart Family (Finland).

At the kick out meeting of the European project “Health4EUkids” that took place on 10^th and 11^th November 2025 in Helsinki (Finland), the Scientific responsible of the project Dr. Apostolos Vantarakis welcomed the collaborated partners (Belgium, Croatia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain). Also, Maria Vasile, the project’s EU officer referred to the effort that it has been done from all partners during the last three years of the project in order to implement the two best practices and the next steps.

         On the first day of the meeting Session 1: WP1 Project overview chaired by Apostolos Vantarakis (UPAT, Greece) and George Karydas (6th Health ADM, Greece) were presented:

– WP1: Coordination outcomes by Kyriaki Premtou (6th Health ADM, Greece) referring to the deliverables and milestones of the project, the meetings and the financial absorption,

– WP2: Dissemination outcomes by George Karydas (6th Health ADM, Greece) referring to the KPI’s that were achieved the 3rd year of the project, the summer school and the upcoming articles. Then each partner presented their dissemination activities the last year.

– WP3: Evaluation outcomes by Zsofia Kimmel (NNGYK, Hungary) referring to the philosophy and the level of evaluation, followed by results from the self-filled questionnaire, focus group interview, deliverables and activities.

         The meeting continued with Session 2: Results (Part I) chaired by Angela Giusti and Chiara Cattaneo (ISS, Italy) where were presented:

– WP5: Grunau Moves by Rosana Peiro Pérez and Marta Garcia (DGSP- FISABIO, Spain) referring to the community engagement analysis of the core group and health sector of pilot’s implementation presented by Jaime Jimenez Pernett (EASP, Spain) and the local government working group discussion.

– WP6: Smart Family by Heli Kuusipalo, Päivi Mäki, Nella Savolainen, Emma Koivurinta (THL, Finland) where were presented from each country the best practice Smart Family impact.

– WP4: Transferability and Sustainability outcomes by Angela Giusti, Chiara Cattaneo, Vittorio Palermo and Paola Scardetta (ISS, Italy) referring to the Delphi study, the 10 key sustainability criteria, the sustainability policy recommendations and a policy brief.

The first day ended with the final considerations by Apostolos Vantarakis (UPAT, Greece).

The second day of the meeting started with the Steering Committee where decisions about important issues regarding the project were discussed. Afterwards, took place the Session 3: Results (Part II) chaired by Rosana Peiro Pérez (Fisabio, Spain) and Heli Kuusipalo (THL, Finland) where were presented:

– WP5: Key Achievements and Results of WP5 by Rosana Peiro Pérez and Marta Garcia (FISABIO, Spain) referring to the D5.3 Pre-post indicators report which evaluates the best practice Grunau Moves including the evaluation framework overview, the results from the pilots evaluation (process, outcomes) and the template for the pilot implementation final report.

– WP6: Key Achievements and Results of WP6 by Heli Kuusipalo, Päivi Mäki, Nella Savolainen, Emma Koivurinta (THL, Finland) and Taina Sainio, Kati Kuisma (FHA, Finland) referring to the achievements and results of implementing the Finnish Smart Family best practice in 6 European countries including the elements of effective lifestyle counselling, implementation strategy, target groups, key indicators, tools, material and policy dialogues.

– WP5 & WP6: Beyond the JA – Ensuring Sustainability and Impact referring to the sustainability of the implemented pilots where WP4 with Angela Giusti, Chiara Cattaneo, Vittorio Palermo και Paola Scardetta (ISS, Italy) presented on how we see sustainability beyond Health4EUkids project and future perspectives and key messages.

         Finally, the Final remarks-Conclusions presented by Apostolos Vantarakis (UPAT, Greece).

#HaDEA