Summary: Childhood obesity is a complex issue and needs multistakeholder involvement at all levels to foster healthier lifestyles in a sustainable way. ‘Ensemble Prévenons l'ObésitéDes Enfants’ (EPODE, Together Let's Prevent Childhood Obesity) is a large‐scale, coordinated, capacity‐building approach for communities to implement effective and sustainable strategies to prevent childhood obesity. This paper describes EPODE methodology and its objective of preventing childhood obesity.At a central level, a coordination team, using social marketing and organizational techniques, trains and coaches a local project manager nominated in each EPODE community by the local authorities. The local project manager is also provided with tools to mobilize local stakeholders through a local steering committee and local networks. The added value of the methodology is to mobilize stakeholders at all levels across the public and the private sectors. Its critical components include political commitment, sustainable resources, support services and a strong scientific input – drawing on the evidence‐base – together with evaluation of the programme.Since 2004, EPODE methodology has been implemented in more than 500 communities in six countries. Community‐based interventions are integral to childhood obesity prevention. EPODE provides a valuable model to address this challenge.

Background/Objectives: A low fitness status during childhood and adolescence is associated with important health-related outcomes, such as increased future risk for obesity and cardiovascular diseases, impaired skeletal health, reduced quality of life and poor mental health. Fitness reference values for adolescents from different countries have been published, but there is a scarcity of reference values for pre-pubertal children in Europe, using harmonised measures of fitness in the literature. The IDEFICS study offers a good opportunity to establish normative values of a large set of fitness components from eight European countries using common and well-standardised methods in a large sample of children. Therefore, the aim of this study is to report sex- and age-specific fitness reference standards in European children. Subjects/Methods: Children (10 302) aged 6–10.9 years (50.7% girls) were examined. The test battery included: the flamingo balance test, back-saver sit-and-reach test (flexibility), handgrip strength test, standing long jump test (lower-limb explosive strength) and 40-m sprint test (speed). Moreover, cardiorespiratory fitness was assessed by a 20-m shuttle run test. Percentile curves for the 1st, 3rd, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th, 97th and 99th percentiles were calculated using the General Additive Model for Location Scale and Shape (GAMLSS). Results: Our results show that boys performed better than girls in speed, lower- and upper-limb strength and cardiorespiratory fitness, and girls performed better in balance and flexibility. Older children performed better than younger children, except for cardiorespiratory fitness in boys and flexibility in girls. Conclusions: Our results provide for the first time sex- and age-specific physical fitness reference standards in European children aged 6–10.9 years.

Background: Although there is a growing interest in the epidemiology of sedentary behaviours, it is unknown whether sedentary behaviour questionnaires are broad markers of sedentary time. The aims of this study were to determine the: (i) reliability of the Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence (HELENA) screen time-based sedentary behaviour questionnaire; and (ii) its validity, i.e. the ability of the questionnaire to correctly rank adolescents according to the objectively measured sedentary time. Methods: A total of 183 adolescents (104 females aged 12.5–17.5 years) were involved in the reliability study. Participants completed the HELENA sedentary questionnaire twice (1 week apart). The validity study comprised 2048 (1212 females) adolescents (12.5–17.5 years of age) included in the HELENA cross-sectional study. Questions included television viewing, computer games, console games, Internet for study and non-study reasons and study during week and weekend days. We compared median values of sedentary time, using accelerometers, by tertiles of self-reported sedentary behaviours and their sum (composite sedentary score). Results: Reliability study: κ-values showed a good agreement (>0.7), except for Internet for study reasons (0.46 weekdays, 0.33 weekend). The questionnaire correctly classified boys’ sedentary time when analysed by specific behaviours and by a composite sedentary score. In girls, median values of objectively measured sedentary time were not different across tertiles of self-reported sedentary behaviours or the composite sedentary score. Conclusion: The HELENA sedentary questionnaire is reliable, yet only correctly classifies objectively measured sedentary time in boys.

Physical activity (PA) is associated with health enhancement. The aim of this study was to assess: 1) levels and patterns of PA in university students by using accelerometers; and 2) the percentage of fulfilment of PA recommendations for adults, according to different public health guidelines. Observational cross-sectional study (Cuenca’s Adults Study) involving 296 (206 women) healthy Spanish university students aged 18–25 years old. Participants wore the ActiGraph GT1M accelerometer for seven consecutive days. Total PA, steps and time spent in sedentary time, light, moderate, vigorous, and moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) was assessed, and the prevalence of sufficient PA was calculated according to various public health guidelines. No sex differences in total PA were found. University students were more sedentary during weekend days than weekdays (p<0.05). Only 30.3% of participants accumulated 30 min/day at least five days a week of MVPA. A total of 5.4% of students met the recommendation of 150 min/week of MVPA or 75 min/week of vigorous PA, in PA bouts of at least 10 min. using the same definition, but on five or more days a week, only 0.5% students were found to meet the recommendation. In addition, only 0.5% of students met the recommendation of 30 min/day of MVPA, at least five days a week and in bouts of at least 10 min. Finally, 28.1% of the students met the recommendation of 10,000 steps/day. Our study shows a high incidence of sedentary time in university students. The number of students meeting PA recommendations significantly differed depending on the recommendation proposed. Specific strategies to promote PA in this population are necessary as well as an agreement as to which PA guidelines should be used.