i.Family
Minerva’s main tasks within the I.Family project were to provide leadership, support and delivery in dissemination and internal and external communications and to oversee the engagement of all partners and researchers. Responsible for branding and messaging, Minerva also created the project’s website and other materials.
The EC Funded FP7, five-year I.Family Study investigated the determinants of food choice, lifestyle and health in European children, adolescents and their parents. It helped to identify the reasons why young people in Europe eat the way they do and how this influences lifelong health.
The project found that many factors affect this. Family time and influence are challenged by modern independent lifestyles and processed foods, drinks and snacks are readily available. Marketing and peer pressures, accompanied by screen-based distractions that replace outdoor play and a built environment that reduces opportunities for physical activity, all play their part, under-pinned by learnt taste preferences and genetic predispositions.
The I.Family project built on the IDEFICS study, where data was collected from over 10,000 children under 10 years of age as they moved into adolescence. Taking research on dietary behaviour to the next level, the I.Family project has provided an insight into the most important influences on Europe’s young people, their lifestyle behaviours and their eating habits as they move into adolescence.
The results, now available on the project’s website, will make a significant contribution to understanding the interplay of these complex factors and reducing adverse health results.
