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Obelisk


Preventing childhood obesity to stay healthy throughout life

Obelisk is a five-year research project, and our ambition is to prevent childhood obesity and contribute to enhancing the health, quality of life, and life span of people of all ages living in Europe.
Treating adults with obesity and overweight is known to be difficult, and it's proven that both prevention and treatment work better in younger age groups. Obelisk has an ambitious research programme to prevent childhood obesity and "cut the roots" of the pandemic.

Our Partners

This ambitious project includes 15 partners from universities, research institutions and small and medium-sized enterprises from across nine European countries. The consortium has received funding from the EU’s Horizon Europe Research and Innovation programme and from UK and Swiss research funding bodies.

Our Aims

Obelisk aims to advance our understanding of the molecular mechanisms contributing to or preventing childhood obesity. It seeks to develop tools for early prediction and prevention, identify new genes associated with childhood obesity, and explore targeted approaches for prevention. The project will also conduct a clinical study on an existing drug to reverse obesity in individuals with a genetic predisposition. Obelisk will disseminate best practices, educate others on preventing and treating childhood obesity, and collaborate with other initiatives to optimise knowledge and joint activities.

The project is built on a participatory approach, with engagement from families and carers, daycare providers and schools, local authorities, the healthcare industry, policymakers, and the scientific and academic communities.