Credits4Health - Study Phase Begins, Involving More Than 2,000 European Citizens

KALAMATA, Greece, October 6, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

The EU-funded social innovation project promoting healthy lifestyles aims to become an integral part of social policies in EU countries 

Credits and stimuli encouraging people to take an active approach to adopting healthier lifestyles, with the help of experts and nutritionists constantly monitoring diet and physical activity.

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Having completed the trial phases on 900 subjects, Credits4Health's third and final step will involve 2,100 European citizens. These 3,000 subjects selected in total are distributed in 4 geographical areas: Kalamata and Pylos in Greece, Florence and Salento (Brindisi, Lecce, and Taranto) for Italy and Girona for Spain. Anyone between 18 and 65 years of age who resides or has his or her domicile in any of these 4 areas may register at http://www.credits4health.gr and join the project.

Capitalizing on the best practices in the healthcare sector and leveraging the experience of established professionals in the fields of health, well-being, ethics, science, and technology, Credits4Health is the EU-funded social innovation project for trialling a simple and effective prevention system relying on new technologies. The objective over the long term is to make the project sustainable and applicable to all European countries.

"Move your hand along with Athena' (meaning don't rely on fate but rather on your own work) is a popular saying in Greece, attributed to Aesop," stated Prof. Antonia Trichopoulou, president of the Hellenic Health Foundation, a foundation responsible for coordinating the programme in the region of the Pylos-Nestor Municipality. "In this spirit, the pioneering programme C4H (Credits for Health), which started in the Pylos area and also expanded to Kalamata, aims to give everyone the opportunity to directly promote their health and improve our quality of life, always with the assistance of our social environment."

Professor Maria Luisa Brandi, Full Professor of Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases at the University of Florence and coordinator of Credits4Health, takes stock of the project's status: "The objective of the third phase, which will end in mid-2016, is to finalize trialling for more than 3,000 participants, on whom we will be able to effectively measure the advantages and benefits obtained by following the recommended programme. During the first two phases, we gathered a considerable amount of data that allowed us to find multiple correlations between the participants' physical, psychological, and social statuses and their different approaches depending on geographical origin."

Credits4Health (C4H) is managed by a European consortium of institutions, universities, authoritative research centres, and companies.