Veggies4myheart is the project of the year in community nutrition and public health

Viver Saudável Magazine was the promoter of Viver Saudável Awards, that took place last november 25 at Casino Espinho to celebrate nutrition projects and recognize the importance of nutrition and the professionals’ role, as promoters of a healthier society.

This 2nd edition awarded the ciTechCare project Veggies4myheart lead by researcher and Professor Cátia Pontes as the Project of the Year in the category “Community Nutrition and Public Health”.

Veggies4myheart project consists of a food education project that aims to promote the consumption and knowledge of vegetables in preschool children (between 3 and 6 years old), through didatic materials, in particular, a digital game which is a joint initiative of the ciTechCare and Polytechnic of Leiria Game Lab.

Researchers Marlene Lages and Sara Dias, students of Digital Games and Multimedia and Dietetics and Nutrition bachelor’s programme, Eduarda Abrantes, Gustavo Reis and Ricardo Antunes from Polytechnic of Leiria Game Lab, Sophie Bucher Della Torre and some crucial funders like “Challenges in Cardiology” and Leiria’s City Council also “believed in the idea”, which “brought us here and allowed us to go even further that we ever thought”, claimed Cátia Pontes.

The winning project is innovative since it is a project which uses educational materiais created and validated by nutritionists, which was one of the shortcomings of other similar projects. The intervention of the project consists of 5 educational sessions of 20 minutes each one, so that children can also have a multissensorial experience with vegetables.

Categories like ‘Nutritionist of the Year’, ‘Clinic Nutrition’ and ‘Collective Feeding and Restaurants’ were also prized in this celebration.

Viver saudável awards 2022 is an initiative sponsored by FRESENIUS KABI, Matinal Cottage, and supported by the Portuguese Nutrition Association (PNA), Portuguese Association of Enteric and Parenteral Nutrition (PAEPN) the Federation of Portuguese Agro-Food Industries (FPAI) and National Association of Nutrition and Dietetics Students (NANDS).

+INFO: https://www.viversaudavel.pt/premios-vs-veggies4myheart-e-o-projeto-do-ano-em-nutricao-comunitaria-e-saude-publica/