News and Events

IDEFICS article on breastfeeding protection

Breastfeeding according to guidelines may help protect children from becoming overweight
Breastfeeding infants during the first 4-6 months of life may offer some protection against overweight in childhood. This finding comes out of the European-wide study IDEFICS (Identification and prevention of Dietary- and lifestyle-induced health EFfects In Children and infantS), and supports current recommendations for breastfeeding.

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IDEFICS News December 2012

IDEFICS Successor Study to start in Spring
Today, you are receiving the last issue of the IDEFICS Newsletter keeping you updated on topical subjects pertaining to the IDEFICS study. We would like to work up your appetite for more as in spring of 2013 the IDEFICS successor study called I.Family which addresses children, juveniles, and families from all over Europe, will commence. Wishing you a pleasant read, your IDEFICS team.

I.Family - A Health Study for Families Just like IDEFICS, the I.Family study will be carried out in eight European countries. I.Family explores in which ways diet habits of families sustainably influence their health. Many IDEFICS children have reached the transition from child to teenager a phase, in which they on one hand progressively detach from their families but on the other hand remain strongly anchored in them. With the inclusion of their parents and siblings we would like to find out in what way children from the IDEFICS study have developed and whether their life style or dietary habits have since then changed. Today, we would like to invite and ask your complete family for support of the study by participating.

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24-hour diet recall SACANA

The diet of children and juveniles is the central topic of the I.Family study. With the support of the internet based program SACANA, which has been developed particularly for the study, you and your family will receive important information about the amount of you daily intake of energy and nutrients. Participants will be able to diarize meals from three different days in their personal SACANA, either from the comfort of their own homes or in one of our study centers.Thus, you and your family will receive comprehensive information about the nutrients contained. After completing three 24-hour recalls the program also offers advice about how to improve the intake of certain food substances. SACANA further allows for comparing one's personal diet habits with the recommendations of the German Nutrition Society (DGE). In case a more sophisticated overview of one's energy and nutrient intake is desired meals may be diarized for more than three days. Even friends and family members not participating in the I.Family study may employ SACANA.