The EYTO project ran from September 2013 until September 2015. It was led by the UK based National Children’s Bureau (NCB) in partnership with organisations in Spain, Portugal and the Czech Republic. With funding from the European Union, the EYTO partnership developed an innovative youth-led social marketing approach to promote healthy eating and physical activity and stem the rise in obesity amongst young people, aged between 13 and 18 years old who are vulnerable to obesity. The project transcended cultural barriers to connect with young people and increase their motivation to lead healthier lifestyles
Core elements
- Reviewing learning from effective social marketing interventions to promote healthy lifestyles
- Recruiting and supporting a network of young volunteers living in disadvantaged areas across the participating countries to research, design and launch new social marketing campaigns in a range of settings within their local communities to promote healthy lifestyles amongst their peers
- Providing support to the young people across the partnership to share learning and ideas
- Promoting cross cultural learning, campaign messages, associated tools and resources across Europe
- Evaluating the impact of the project on outcomes for young people
Objectives
- Increase understanding at a local, national and European level of successful social marketing approaches to tackle obesity amongst disadvantaged young people
- Increase the confidence and skills of young people and practitioners to apply participatory social marketing techniques
- Increase the participation of young people in the development of interventions to tackle obesity
- Increase reported levels of motivation towards living healthier lifestyles, and reported levels of physical activity and fruit and vegetable consumption amongst young people in the participating countries
- Increase the sharing and replication of good practice amongst EU member states
“I have always thought about healthy lifestyles only in one way – how to lose weight. Now I see that it’s more complex. It’s also about your motivation, about your emotions and your whole life.” EYTO Young Campaign Creator
