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Conference Agenda

Overview and details of the sessions of this conference. Please select a date or location to show only sessions at that day or location. Please select a single session for detailed view (with abstracts and downloads if available).

Daily Overview

Session

WR2_1_3: Abstract presentations: Active Schools, Healthy Children: Creating Environments for Physical Activity and Health
Location: White room 2
Session Chair: Josefine Björkqvist

Presentation 6

4:00pm - 4:03pm

National Czech child obesity prevention program BE FIT 24: preliminary results

Michal Hink¹, Petr Dvořák¹, Lucie Mandelová¹, Ondřej Májek^1,2, Karel Hejduk^1,2, Ondřej Ngo^1,2, Renata Chloupková^1,2, Monika Ambrožová^1,2, Jan Hlúbik³, Jiří Suchý⁴, Petr Jehlička⁵

1: National Screening Centre, Institute of Health Information and Statistics of the Czech Republic; 2: Institute of Biostatistics and Analyses, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic; 3: Czech Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics Czech Technical University; 4: Department of Physical Education, Faculty of Education, Charles University; 5: Member of the board the Czech Medical Chamber

The project aims to address the rising childhood obesity problem in Czechia by integrating technology, exercise, and gamified education to help protect children from severe obesity.

The program was developed by the National Screening Centre, Czech Medical Chamber, Czech Technical University, Charles University and other partners. Program is currently undergoing pilot deployment to verify its effectiveness.

Following the 2026 pilot conclusion, the program aims for national scale-up.

The project targets children aged 6-11 who are either overweight (BMI 90th-97th percentile) or mildly obese (BMI 98th-99th percentile). The goal is 5% BMI reduction over one year.

Paediatricians recruit participants and provide them with fitness bracelets, mobile app access and information materials.

Mobile app, utilizing a fitness bracelet, measures physical activity of participating children. Children, with parental assistance, also log their dietary intake into the app. Energy intake and expenditure are measured during game weeks (one each month). If diet and exercise are sufficient, children are rewarded with points. Accumulated points unlock new game characters.

Preliminary analysis shows that the program is effective in increasing self-perceived physical activity among 67% of participants on first regular checkup. It also showed effectiveness from the first annual checkups, where more than 50% of adherent children achieved weight stagnation, including more than 43% who achieved a BMI decrease.

This project evaluates the effectiveness of the tested instruments and suggests that a technologically-oriented, gamification-driven, public health intervention can help tackle the childhood obesity problem in Czechia. Possible barrier for nation-wide implementation is potential lack of available funding.