Obesity is currently one of the main public health challenges worldwide. Its prevalence continues to increase and has a significant impact on both physical and emotional health, as well as people’s quality of life and life expectancy. In the case of children and young people, the situation is especially worrying: suffering from obesity at an early age increases the probability of maintaining this condition in adulthood, with important consequences also in the educational and social sphere. In fact, children with obesity are at a higher risk of being bullied.
In Catalonia, the data reflect this reality: one in four children between the ages of 6 and 12 is overweight and one in seven is obese. This situation is more frequent in environments with fewer socioeconomic resources, where a vicious circle is generated that shows the unequal distribution of health opportunities. In this scenario, disease prevention and health promotion from a community perspective becomes essential. As the World Health Organization indicates, we must go beyond individual actions, which have already proven insufficient to prevent and address obesity. A community perspective is necessary that involves institutions, health systems, the educational field, local administrations and also private industry and commerce.
In this context, PowerPlats was born, an educational activity aimed at children and families that promotes healthy food choices through play, from a positive, participatory and non-stigmatizing perspective and focused on the promotion of health and family empowerment. PowerPlats is based on a gamified dynamic with cards that represent food groups and daily habits scored according to health vectors such as vitality, growth or strength. The objective is for participants to build with cards the snack that gives them the most health points. PowerPlats is aligned with the objectives of the Programme for the Prevention and Approach of Childhood Obesity in Catalonia (POICAT), led by the Public Health Agency of Catalonia, which promotes a positive, equitable and non-stigmatising community approach to childhood obesity.
On Tuesday, June 9 at the CAP Torrassa and Wednesday, June 10 at the CAP Collblanc, in the afternoon, the game will be open to the participation of families and children from the neighborhood, in an activity that combines education, health and leisure. The PowerPlats initiative is developed within the framework of the local implementation of the POICAT and, with the experience and data collected in this pilot phase, it is planned to continue improving and expanding the activity to make it accessible to other health, educational and community teams in Catalonia.
The creation of the game has been promoted by IDIBELL within the framework of the public agreement for scientific dissemination that it has with the City Council of L’Hospitalet, with the collaboration of the CSI and the POICAT and has had the support of the FECyT. The conceptualisation has been carried out by Marina Campos, food technologist and science communicator, and Júlia Benito, nutrition expert and science communicator, with the collaboration of Maria Bosch, dietitian-nutritionist at the CSI and territorial referent of the POICAT in Torrassa and Collblanc.
About IDIBELL
The Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) is a research centre created in 2004 specialising in cancer, neuroscience, translational medicine and regenerative medicine. It has a team of more than 1,500 professionals who, from the 73 research groups, generate more than 1,400 scientific articles per year. IDIBELL is owned by the Bellvitge University Hospital and the Viladecans Hospital of the Catalan Institute of Health, the Catalan Institute of Oncology, the University of Barcelona and the City Council of L’Hospitalet de Llobregat.
IDIBELL is a member of the Campus of International Excellence of the University of Barcelona HUBc and is part of the CERCA institution of the Generalitat de Catalunya. In 2009 it became one of the first five Spanish research centres accredited as a health research institute by the Carlos III Health Institute. In addition, it is part of the “HR Excellence in Research” program of the European Union and is a member of EATRIS and REGIC. Since 2018, IDIBELL has been an Accredited Centre of the AECC Scientific Foundation (FCAECC).