Our University has the scientific responsibility for the Aristotle-CYFIT program, which is being implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Sports, and Youth (MoE), with the aim of preventing and addressing childhood obesity.

The National Program "Aristotle-CyFIT" aims to evaluate significant parameters of physical fitness and body composition indicators of school-aged children and adolescents within the framework of government policy for the prevention and management of childhood obesity, as well as in the context of implementing the Ministry's Strategic Planning for improving the quality of the citizens' life.

During the 2024-2025 school year, the program will be implemented nationwide in all General Secondary Schools and Technical and Vocational Education and Training Schools.

On Wednesday, September 11, 2024, the third phase of the program’s implementation began with the training of Physical Education teachers. The training took place at the premises of the Pedagogical Institute, where the Physical Education Inspector, Ms. Theoti Ppourou, emphasized the importance of the program regarding the health of today’s students and tomorrow’s citizens of Cyprus. The Program Coordinator, Ms. Anna Poirazi-Mavridi, explained the implementation timeline for this school year.

On their part, the project experts analyzed the scientific background of the Program:

The Program Team Coordinator, Dr. Elena Papacosta, Head of the Department of Life and Health Sciences at Frederick University, which has been awarded the scientific support of the program through an open tender process, discussed the general and specific objectives of the Program, as well as similar programs that have been implemented for years in most European countries.

The IT expert of the project, Dr. Andreas Constantinides, Director of the Mobile Devices Laboratory (MDL) at Frederick University and a member of the academic staff in the Department of Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, and Informatics, analyzed the content and use of the CyFit electronic platform by teachers, students, and schools. He also discussed the process for submitting measurement data by teachers.

Dr. Anthi Xenofontos, Assistant Professor at Frederick University's Department of Life and Health Sciences and a member of the scientific team of the program, explained the measurement methodology to ensure that the numbers are valid and the results reliable as well as comparable to similar programs in the European and international context.

Finally, the Scientific Responsible for the "Aristotle-CyFit" program, Dr. Charalambos Tsorbatzoudis, Professor in the Department of Physical Education and Sports Science at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, emphasized the significance of the Program's findings for designing specific policies and targeted measures for the health and fitness of the children and citizens.

The main goal of the "Aristotle-CyFit" program, based on a relevant decision by the Council of Ministers, is to create a large and reliable database regarding the physical condition of the entire secondary education student population. This will allow for long-term health monitoring of the population, comparison of Cyprus' data with the frameworks proposed by the World Health Organization, as well as scientific and research utilization of the data. Reliability, validity, and comparability of measurements are also key priorities of the program.

It should be noted that the physical fitness tests and anthropometric measurements are carried out by Physical Education teachers as part of the Physical Education curriculum, with equipment of specific standards. Students who participate are required to complete electronic questionnaires on dietary habits and physical activity, so that the measurement results can be combined with each child's lifestyle habits.

The project is fully funded by national resources.