I.Family Study – Belgium

In Belgium the I.Family study will be performed in 2 stages: the control region, Aalter, will be measured from mid March until mid May, while measurements in the intervention region, Geraardsbergen, are planned to start from mid September until end of October 2013. In order to reach as many families as possible we decided to organise in each region about 10 “family-days” during which several families are invited for measurements. Potential subjects for Aalter were first informed about and invited for participating to the study by regular mail. Afterwards, a electronic mailing was sent out. Furthermore, schools that previously participated to the IDEFICS study were informed about I.Family and, after approval from the schools director, the I.Family study was presented in school classes.

Finally, to avoid not reaching people who may have moved or may not have received our information through regular mail and e-mail, we started calling families from whom we didn’t receive any new yet. So far, we have completed 2 family days and we are busily planning 6 more days during Easter holidays which we will try to make as attractive as possible (free breakfast and lunch, informative sessions for parents , bouncy castle and facial painting for children).

For the control region, Aalter, all measurements will take place in “Sportpark Aalter”, which is a local sporting complex and this is thanks to the support of the municipality of Aalter. However, since the survey days for the intervention region are only planned later this year, the exact location for Geraardsbergen is not finalised yet.
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