Food Boost Challenge Limburg

Young people are consuming fewer and fewer fruits and vegetables, even though we know they are so important for our health. At the Food Boost Challenge, we look at what drives young people, why they are not eating healthily and what we can do to improve this.

Young people in the Netherlands are too often tempted to make unhealthy food choices. On the road, but also at school or in the sports canteen. Many young people eat too few fruits and vegetables and prefer sweet drinks to water. Healthy products are less likely to be chosen because the unhealthy variety is often easy to grab. We want to change that in a smart way: with young people themselves.

Healthy eating and drinking - water, plenty of fruits and vegetables, whole grain products - is important for a healthy body. It lowers the risk of many diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes and some cancers. And it reduces the risk of being overweight and obese. Of 12- to 16-year-olds, nearly 16% are overweight, and of 16- to 20-year-olds, 19% are obese (source: CBS). In addition, only 1% of 14- to 18-year-olds eat enough vegetables daily and most young people eat no more than 1 piece of fruit per day (source: RIVM). So that could be better!

Most prevention programs target elementary school children and are based on traditional scientific research. Programs based on participatory action research as well as targeting adolescents, such as high school students, students in secondary or higher vocational education and university students are rare. With the Food Boost Challenge, we are changing that! 

What if we challenged young people to come up with new food concepts on their own?

The Food Boost Challenge is an initiative of Medical Delta Living Lab VIT for Life / De Haagse Hogeschool, HortiHeroes en Foodvalley NL. <&span>

Together with colleges, (v)mbo's, universities and partners from the business community, we challenge young people to come up with their own ideas to make healthier eating more attractive. In four phases - from research to ideation and from concept development to prototyping - they will give a boost to a healthier diet of their own and future generations.