Duration: 2023 – 2025
Principal Researcher
Gabriela Almeida
CI&DEI´s Principal Researcher
Carlos Luz
Research line:
Health Education and Quality of Life
The primary goal of this research project is to study the relation between children’s body mass index and iodine status in their motor competence (real and perceived), health-related fitness, health-related behavior, mental health, social acceptance, and health biomarkers. Additionally, this research project aims to highlight the importance of targeting, monitoring, and promoting motor competence, healthy eating habits and physical activity simultaneously, both in school and community settings, to help children achieving a healthier nutritional status, and a healthy physically active lifestyle. Participants in this cross-sectional study will be children aged 6-10 years-old residents in the municipality of Évora attending elementary school. The required sample size was determined using the sample size calculation formula by QualtricsXM. At a 95% confidence level, a margin of error of 5%, and a population size of 1095, the minimum sample size required is 285 children. The University of Évora has already investigation protocol agreements with two groups of schools in the municipality of Évora, involving 12 different schools from the 1st to 4th grade. The data collection will last ~16 weeks. All children will be evaluated in several variables: i) Health-related physical fitness; ii) Motor competence; iii) Psychosocial; iv) Health-related behavior; v)Health biomarkers (HB) and nutritional status.