ECHOCAT

Duración

2017-2019

Coordinador

Martine Vrijheid (ISGlobal)

Financiadores

Fundació La Marató de TV3

ECHOCAT was one of the 34 projects selected by the Fundació La Marató de TV3 from the 117 applications for grants to fund research projects on diabetes and obesity. The primary objective of the study will be “to examine whether factors related to the urban environment (air pollution, green space, social context, built environment, unhealthy food environment) influence child obesity in Catalonia”.

ECHOCAT will analyse the existing data on 1.6 million children available in the primary care system (representing 80% of all children living in Catalonia), as well as data that has already been collected on a cohort of mothers and children. New data will be collected from a group of schoolchildren aged between 10 and 12 years living in the city of Sabadell.  In the Sabadell cohort, the researchers will combine anthropometric measurements with the results of questionnaires to obtain combined data on obesity and risk factors. They will also use geographic information systems to estimate exposure to the various urban environment indicators and will analyse each child’s diet, physical activity and psychological well-being individually.