{"id":378263,"date":"2022-06-03T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-03T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/innovationorigins.com\/?p=378263"},"modified":"2022-06-03T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-06-03T10:00:00","slug":"unique-chair-created-to-help-people-get-healthier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/unique-chair-created-to-help-people-get-healthier\/","title":{"rendered":"Use awareness as a weapon against childhood obesity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How do you convince children to eat healthier? \u201cThis is a complex issue,\u201d says Edgar van Mil, pediatric endocrinologist and professor of Maastricht University\u2019s Youth, Nutrition and Health program at Brightlands Campus Greenport Venlo<\/a>. \u201cComplex problems demand customization.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a child, Edgar van Mil once picked turnip cabbage from a farmer\u2019s field near his hometown of Waalwijk. He peeled it with his knife and sampled the vegetable he hadn\u2019t known existed until then. \u201cI will never forget how it tasted, and every time I eat turnip cabbage, I am reminded of that moment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a good reason he shares this anecdote. The chair at Brightlands Campus Greenport Venlo aims to study how we can help children eat a healthier diet. And it\u2019s not just to help young people with obesity, like the patients Van Mil sees every week at the Jeroen Bosch Hospital in Den Bosch, but all children. Experiencing what you eat, much like Edgar van Mil\u2019s \u201cturnip cabbage adventure,\u201d can help. \u201cWhen you take kids to see a vegetable grower\u2019s farm – something we do here at Kokkerelli Kids University – they get excited. Vegetables are about much more than just nutrition; there\u2019s a story behind them. This makes them taste good and possibly more palatable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

\"Edgar
Edgar van Mil \u00a9Marcel van Hoorn<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Wrong stimulus<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Born in Waalwijk, Edgar van Mil (1969) trained as a physician in Maastricht, and has always been interested in nutrition. Not only because it\u2019s something we are always studying, but also because his father, Gerard van Mil, was a renowned pastry chef. \u201cAs a child, I really used to think I would follow in my father\u2019s footsteps and have the same career. He wasn\u2019t concerned as much about making healthy products as he was about creating a tasty product that triggered your sense of taste so much that one of these pastries would be enough. These days, there are products you can easily eat ten of. And this is where the problem actually lies. After all, it encourages people to eat even more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He sees the consequences of this in his medical practice. \u201cInitially, I concentrated on pediatric endocrinology and medical research, but so much involves eating habits, taste development and what this does to young children\u2019s metabolism. We still don\u2019t know enough about this, which is what makes this chair so interesting, and is the reason behavioral psychologist Remco Havermans is now involved as an associate professor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We see kids weighing 150 kilos, which makes you wonder where on earth it all went wrong<\/p>Edgar van Mil<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Refreshing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Van Mil is an authority when it comes to childhood obesity. He wrote a book on the subject, and was involved in the creation of the National Prevention Agreement. The chair is the next step, and came about primarily thanks to the support of the business community. \u201cWhat makes me really happy is the direct contact with the companies here in Venlo. The things you see happening here in practice are only being paid lip service to in other places. We are actually doing something about it here, and the entrepreneurial spirit is very refreshing. When you come from the medical field, you often feel like you\u2019re fighting a losing battle. We see kids weighing 150 kilos, which makes you wonder where on earth it all went wrong. How did it come to this? Not that we have a ready-made solution here, but at Brightlands Campus Greenport Venlo we can at least research how to make healthy choices easier.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taste sensations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It will be a struggle though, Edgar van Mil admits. \u201cAll those high-calorie products have gotten very inexpensive. People are busy, so it\u2019s easier to give children something quick to placate them. It may sound hackneyed, but when I was young, even though we had plenty of candy, we didn\u2019t keep it in the house. Not even in a pastry shop. Whenever I was given a pastry, I couldn\u2019t even finish it because of all the taste sensations it triggered. These days, the flavor is much blander. Natural products often have many more taste sensations that have an effect on satiety. The thing is you have to put more effort into it to get this result; cooking or creating is required. Grabbing something from the refrigerator is obviously faster.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the problem Van Mil and Havermans are trying to find a solution for at the Brightlands campus in Venlo. \u201cWe understand how choices are made. However, what are the biological and behavioral factors that play a role in this, and how can you respond to them with healthy nutrition? It\u2019s interesting to see how you can influence behavior. We are constantly falling prey to stimuli, part of this is because of our biology, but part is also learned.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Obesity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are a few points of departure, of course. \u201cFor example, we know that children who were breastfed are more likely to choose healthy and varied nutrition. When they are fed with a level scoop of formula, you might be cultivating monotonous taste development.\u201d The fact that children eat fewer potatoes, vegetables and fruit, and spend less time playing outdoors also plays a role. Between 15 and 20 percent of children are overweight, and three to four percent of all Dutch children are obese. Van Mil: \u201cWe focus on all children because healthy eating is vital for everyone. You can\u2019t just tell overweight children to do this or that, while the rest can eat whatever they want.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If only just for the record, can you tell us why being overweight is so dangerous? \u201cIf you look at it very simply, obesity leads to accelerated aging. This also means all of the medical complications that go with this such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and problems that affect the brain. We are seeing children with adult-onset diabetes, something that was considered impossible until recently.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Edgar
Edgar van Mil \u00a9Marcel van Hoorn<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Lifestyle<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

And this in spite of all the food gurus, diets and media coverage on the topic. \u201cIt\u2019s a complex issue: there isn\u2019t one single answer,\u201d says Van Mil. \u201cBeing overweight is the result of a lot of factors combined: environment, predisposition, and lifestyle. And these elements interact with each other. Everyone is looking for an easy solution, a quick fix. Eat less and exercise more is such a clich\u00e9; people already know this. What\u2019s key is customization and professional supervision. Doctors often find it very difficult to do anything about lifestyle. They have to ask so many questions as it is, and explain things; they hardly have time for a lifestyle consultation. To make this easier, we have all sorts of lifestyle help centers at the Jeroen Bosch Hospital. People are referred by the specialist, complete with accurate information; in other words, details on what exactly is going on with the patient.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How wonderful it would be if products were developed at the front end of the supply chain that would help consumers make healthy choices<\/p>Edgar van Mil<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Vegetable queen<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Edgar van Mil is at the Brightlands campus one day a week and devotes one other day each week to his part-time position as a professor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cProducts are developed at the campus that we can really use. We shouldn\u2019t only be talking about health; we need to tell the whole story and bring experience back to the mix: where does our food come from, and how are we preparing it? How wonderful it would be if products were developed at the front end of the supply chain that would help consumers make healthy choices. At this campus, we introduce children to fruit and vegetables, healthy products. There\u2019s also a company based here that combines a lot of fruit and vegetables in a shake. A project with vegetable boxes proved very educational for this age group. The children tasted a different vegetable from the box each time. We have seen that when children do this with their peers, they like it. The child who ate the most of the vegetable was crowned vegetable king or queen. It might seem so simple, but our PhD student Britt van Belkom actually made the front page of the UK Times with the program. The next goal is to use technology to scale up this knowledge so that more children can reap the benefits and for a longer period of time. How great would it be for this region to be the one to take the theme of health to the next level? It\u2019s really all about value.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other Brightlands campuses join in<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Fast food is, of course, always within reach. Van Mil: \u201cWe have to remain vigilant about all of the results our work produces. Healthy products are always more expensive, and the extra cost will ultimately have to be translated into health gains.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van Mil and Havermans also work closely with the Healthy Elementary School of the Future, a project Maastricht professor Onno van Schayck runs at Brightlands Maastricht Health Campus<\/a>. An app is also being developed that young people can use to keep up their desired eating habits. The data could be interesting to research further at Brightlands Smart Services Campus<\/a> in Heerlen, where the information can be studied. \u201cIn this regard, we are constantly looking for technological developments that can support these efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edgar van Mil is a classically trained scientist, and by his own admission, says that he doesn\u2019t know much about data science. \u201cHealth is a very complex field, and if the problems were easy to solve we would have already done so. Complex problems demand complex approaches. All of the expertise available at the different campuses can be very helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How do you convince children to eat healthier? \u201cThis is a complex issue,\u201d says Edgar van Mil, pediatric endocrinologist and professor of Maastricht University\u2019s Youth, Nutrition and Health program at Brightlands Campus Greenport Venlo. \u201cComplex problems demand customization.\u201d As a child, Edgar van Mil once picked turnip cabbage from a farmer\u2019s field near his hometown […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2261,"featured_media":512428,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"views\/single-partner.blade.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[34665],"tags":[65832,70875],"location":[6763],"article_type":[6758],"serie":[],"archives":[],"internal_archives":[],"reboot-archive":[],"class_list":["post-378263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","tag-bright-people","tag-brightlands-2","location-netherlands","article_type-interview"],"blocksy_meta":[],"acf":{"subtitle":"How do you convince children to eat healthier? \u201cThis is a complex issue,\u201d says Edgar van Mil, pediatric endocrinologist and professor of Maastricht University. ","text_display_homepage":false},"author_meta":{"display_name":"Emile Hollman","author_link":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/author\/emile-hollman\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Edgar_Van_Mil-_20220425_0044.jpg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Health<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Health<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["Bright People<\/a>","Brightlands<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Bright People<\/span>","Brightlands<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 4 years ago","modified":"Updated 4 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on June 3, 2022","modified":"Updated on June 3, 2022"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on June 3, 2022 12:00 pm","modified":"Updated on June 3, 2022 12:00 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2261"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=378263"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378263\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/512428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=378263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=378263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=378263"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=378263"},{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=378263"},{"taxonomy":"serie","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/serie?post=378263"},{"taxonomy":"archives","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/archives?post=378263"},{"taxonomy":"internal_archives","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal_archives?post=378263"},{"taxonomy":"reboot-archive","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reboot-archive?post=378263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}