The PAS GRAS project aims to address the growing burden of obesity by focusing on overweight and obese children, adolescents, and young adults, with the main goal of reversing obesity and preventing later-life comorbidities. Through a multidisciplinary approach, the project seeks to determine how lifestyle factors, mental health, social/family influences, and the environment interact with individual psychological, genetic, and metabolic characteristics. By integrating these parameters, PAS GRAS will develop personalized risk assessment tools and novel prevention or treatment strategies, addressing gaps in obesity diagnosis, prognosis, early intervention, and public awareness.
The project’s objectives include identifying vulnerabilities associated with obesity development, predicting future risks using epigenetic and gender-specific markers, and characterizing biological pathways and markers of obesity comorbidities. Additionally, it aims to design interventions using naturally occurring compounds, develop creative science-health literacy tools, and test their efficacy across populations. PAS GRAS addresses 10 of the 12 critical research gaps identified in the EU call, aiming for a significant long-term reduction in obesity prevalence by 2050.
Work Packages:
WP1: Management, Ethics & Training
This work package ensures the effective and ethical implementation of the project through the establishment of scientific boards, ethical oversight, and human resource training, including specialized courses for early-stage investigators.
WP2: Risk Stratification
This work package develops a Risk Assessment Toolbox (RAT) to stratify obesity risk across the lifespan using socioeconomic, dietary, lifestyle, mental, and biological markers.
WP3: Mechanism Identification and Interventions
WP3 focuses on identifying molecular targets for anti-obesity pharmacological approaches, including modulation of inflammation, energy balance mechanisms, and metabolic reprogramming. It evaluates the effects of Mediterranean diet components and natural products in reducing obesity-related inflammation.
WP4: Creative Health Literacy Tools
WP4 applies co-production methodologies to raise health literacy and promote healthy lifestyles through interactive tools, educational materials, and interventions tailored to different demographic and socio-cultural environments. A scalability plan ensures a broader impact across Europe.
WP5: Personalized Interventions
WP5 develops risk-adapted dietary and physical activity interventions and evaluates their effects on obesity and associated diseases. It examines the transgenerational impacts of lifestyle changes on obesity risk in families.
WP6: Dissemination, Exploitation, and Communication
WP6 oversees the dissemination and communication of project results, clustering with related initiatives, and delivering policy recommendations to improve public health and reduce obesity prevalence across Europe.
