Professionals of the EAP Llagosta presented the community program orbit4kids to la Llagosta families to encourage healthy lifestyles in childhood

The Northern Metropolitan Primary Care of the ICS, the Foundation University Institute for Research at the Primary Care of Health Jordi Gol i Gurina (IDIAPJGol) and the Gasol Foundation coordinate this initiative which has the support of the Llagosta Town Council (Barcelona)

La Llagosta (Barcelona) starts the trip to ÓRBITA, program of the Gasol Foundation ).Foundation of Pau and Marc Gasol brothers, whose mission is the prevention of childhood obesity). which is implemented in the municipality in coordination with the Northern Metropolitan Primary Care of the Catalan Institute of Health and the University Institute for Research at the Jordi Gol i Gurina Primary Care (IDIAPJGol). During September, the initiative was presented at the start-up meetings of the four schools in La Llagosta, where families had the opportunity to know the project and ask the questions they have considered. EAP professionals La Llagosta have explained the design of the scientific study to be conducted in the population of La Llagosta, and have encouraged families to participate, with the aim of achieving a healthy community for children.

ORBITA4KIDS program aims to promote many projects and actions to promote healthy lifestyles to prevent childhood obesity by encouraging physical activity and sport, feeding, sleep hours and quality and emotional well-being. In total, almost 1,000 children aged 3–10 in the municipality will participate in the program.

“ÒRBITA4KIDSis a pioneering community program that seeks to reverse the trend of increased overweight and obesity among girls and children of La Llagosta”, commented on Raquel Ortega, director of the Primary Care Team. And he adds that "We want to encourage families to participate in the project, as scientific evidence suggests that such interventions can show positive effects in reducing child obesity figures."

In the next few weeks, the initial data will be collected, so that the program's effectiveness can be evaluated with scientific rigour in the future. The programme is planned to be developed during two academic courses, and can be extended over time and to other municipalities.

"It’s the first multi-level and multi-component program that we put in place,” Cristina Ribes, executive director of the Gasol Foundation in Europe, explained. .The implementation and evaluation of the ÓRBITA program in the municipality of La Llagosta will allow us to visualize the strategy of extending the program to other municipalities of Catalonia and the rest of Spain,” she added.

A joint effort for child health

Child obesity, which together with overweight affects 1 in 3 children in Spain aged 8 to 16 according to the 2019 PASOS study by the Gasol Foundation, is a complex problem, requiring multifactorial interventions involving all key sectors and actors in the community, thereby contributing to the welfare of the smallest.

For this purpose, the program orbit4KIDS is launched in La Llagosta (Barcelona), the fruit of collaboration between the Gasol Foundation, the Northern Metropolitan Primary Care of the ICS and the Foundation University Institute for Research in the Primary Care of Health Jordi Gol i Gurina (IDIAPJGol) and support of the Llagosta City Council.

Among the actions that will be carried out within the project, all elementary and children's education schools in La Llagosta will implement for this course the Sism program to promote healthy living habits in school, through the subject of Physical Education and tutoring.

In addition, a comprehensive training plan is being developed aimed at the health professionals of the Primary Care Centre of the municipality, who are responsible for coordinating the actions on the ground.

Another key aspect of this pilot program is the deployment of a broad communication campaign to raise awareness and motivate the children and families of Lobosta to pursue a healthy lifestyle, as well as the study of the environment as a determinant of child health.