“EAT FOR GOALS”: COMBINING COOKING AND FOOTBALL TO TACKLE YOUTH OBESITY

“Eat for Goals” is about good food, cooking and football. It has been created to encourage young people to be more conscious of living active lifestyles and eating well. The book’s simple message, “A healthy lifestyle is also based on healthy food”, is conveyed by a multi-ethnic group of 13 internationally renowned male and female football players and their food choices. “Eat for Goals” was created under the patronage of Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), World Heart Federation and the European Commission.

13 players, 13 dishes, 1 cause, 1 book

Renowned international football role models were invited to present their approach to healthy food by describing the recipe of their preferred dish, sharing with readers what they love to eat. A total 13 recipes are presented with the aim of educating youth and their families on the interdependency between a balanced healthy diet and performance. It is hoped that they, in turn, will question their food choices and adopt healthier eating habits as well as being encouraged to lead more active lifestyles.

Each player shares with the readers the recipe for his or her favourite dish, children are invited to cook and eat like champions. A detailed list of the ingredients and step-by-step instructions for preparing each of the 13 dishes are given. And for those who want to know more about the relationship between a balanced, healthy diet and performance, which is crucial to footballers, the book also gives the nutritional values per portion as well as plenty of useful food tips.

Working together to fight obesity

The World Heart Federation fully supports the “Eat for Goals” initiative as it combines the goals of promoting healthy nutrition and active lifestyles to children and their parents in a fun and educational way. The factors for obesity are many. They include unhealthy diets among a growing number of individuals as time constraints and greater mobility modify eating habits, replacing traditional meals by snacks on the go. Other causes are poor infant feeding practices and overconsumption of food too rich in calories, proteins, fat and carbohydrates as well as sugar. This increase in calorie intake is not being offset by increased physical activity; in fact, globally humanity is becoming more physically inactive due to urbanisation, motorised transport, technology in the home and passive leisure pursuits.

Raising funds for youth obesity programmes

Fit & Healthy: UEFA will donate €1 from the sale of each book in support of World Heart Federation programmes encouraging children to be physically active.

“Eat for Goals” will be officially launched in Brussels in September. Read all the news, including details on how you can order a copy, in the October/November issue of Heart Beat.