The promotion of healthy eating behaviors in childhood and adolescence through hands-on nutrition training to pediatricians and other pediatric primary health care practitioners, using the “culinary medicine” approach is the main aim of the Dr.PED-Chef project. The project’s target groups include pediatricians, pediatric nurses, public health doctors and nurses, family doctors, medical and nursing students specializing in pediatrics and other professionals involved in pediatric care, e.g. midwifes.
The Dr.PED-Chef project is unique in bringing to Europe the novel educational approach of “culinary medicine”. Culinary medicine is a new evidence-based field in medicine that blends the art of food and cooking with the science of medicine and dietetics. This approach supports health professionals in deeply understanding a patient’s dietary habits, how meals and food has an impact on daily life, as well as shaping an effective counseling approach with the provision of more practical and tailor-made recommendations.
Dr. PED-Chef is a three-year project (1/12/2019 – 30/11/2022) funded by the ERASMUS+ Programme of the European Union. The project is coordinated by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NTNU. Other partners include the Center for Social Innovation LTD – CSI (Cyprus), the Prolepsis Institute (Greece), the Andrology Pediatric and Adolescent Foundation (Italy), University of Navarra (Spain), & Gazi University (Turkey).
The Dr.PED-Chef consortium will develop training for pediatric primary health care practitioners on healthy nutrition promotion in childhood and adolescence with the aim to improve their skills related to communication and counseling as well as skills and knowledge related to obesity prevention and treatment.
