Expected: 2 new JPI HDHL calls

The two calls mainly cover the area 1 “Citizens, Diet and Behaviour” and area 2 “Food for Health” of the JPI HDHL Strategic Research Agenda respectively, with expected impact on the area 3 "Diet, Health and Disease” too.

Overweight and obesity are associated with a range of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and certain cancers. The rising prevalence of childhood obesity is of particular concern due to the serious adverse psychological, social and health consequences of obesity in childhood and implications for future adult life. Similar to the body mass index, dietary and physical activity habits track strongly from youth to adolescence to adulthood. Therefore, it is important to establish healthy behaviours early in the lifespan to prevent overweight and obesity. Novel strategies to prevent or reduce overweight and obesity, adjusted to defined target populations based on certain life stages, should be developed, implemented and evaluated.

Undernutrition, is a common problem mainly in elderly. It is defined as a state resulting from lack of intake or uptake of nutrients that leads to altered body composition (decreased fat free mass) and body cell mass leading to diminished physical and mental function and impaired clinical outcomes from disease. The risk of disease and health benefits of diets vary significantly between groups and individuals within populations and in this respect, individual variations in nutrition response need more attention. Research is therefore needed that provides a better and deeper understanding of how food is metabolized in the body and how nutrients are made available for absorption. Protein supply is important in all stages of life, and in relation to undernutrition in elderly, and other target groups with a risk to develop underweight/undernutrition, a reduced intake and bioavailability of proteins and micronutrients puts these individuals at increased risk of diseases. Thus, there is a need for a targeted nutrition approach, which is a tool to overcome the challenge of undernutrition in elderly.

Early September preparatory workshops for both calls took place. During these workshops, interested funding agencies of different JPI HDHL countries explored together with members of our JPI HDHL Scientific Advisory Board, Stakeholder Advisory Board and national experts the research gaps and needs for these topics. More information about these expected calls will be published soon!