Smart Hydration - A habit forming framework to foster

Water, as the most fundamental nutrient in the human body, plays a pivotal role in the overall wellbeing and health of children, particularly within the development process of grassroots football players. Adequate hydration offers numerous benefits during childhood, including improved physical performance, cognitive function, digestive health, immune function, mood and behaviour, and temperature regulation. Furthermore, proper hydration and water consumption promote satiety, and various studies have demonstrated that these interventions contribute to reducing obesity in children, of whom 1 in 3 in Europe, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), are affected. Despite the significant importance of hydration, more than 60% of children still experience dehydration daily. Interestingly, poor health habits driven by a lack of impactful health education programs at grassroots levels, as well as inadequate tools and actionable information to increase awareness of hydration status, emerge as one of the main barriers to overcoming this health and wellbeing issue. In that sense, the Smart Hydration project aims to raise awareness about the importance of hydration through a combination of digital technologies, implementation of accessible water fountains, and innovative community-based educational health programs to drive behaviour changes and foster actionable decisions to drink more water and stay hydrated. Precisely, to successfully achieve a positive impact on better hydration and overall health, a complementary involvement of key stakeholders such as the school, the sports club staff, and the family will also be implemented. This project is highly aligned with Erasmus+ Sport as it seeks to design and implement a transformative program that promotes a healthy lifestyle among grassroots football players by leveraging strong community presence of Parma Calcio 1913 Football Club and behaviour-change-oriented educational programs designed by Jungle ventures. that is published through this page expresses the views of the project beneficiaries only and it does not represent the views of the European Union or the European Commission. It shall not be deemed to constitute legal or official notice on behalf of the European Union or the European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the European Commission can be held responsible for this content nor the use thereof made by any third parties. Page 2 of 2