Media

This section contains key facts about the project and who to contact if you are a member of the press

Project parameters

Coordinator:      Professor Cristina Campoy, University of Granada, Spain

E-mail:               ccampoy@ugr.es

Timescale:        1st March 2008 to 28th February 2013

Funding:            5.9m€

Budget:              8.0m€

Partners:           20 partners from UK, Spain, Italy, Germany, USA, The Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Hungary,

Contact us:      nutrimentheproject@yahoo.es

Or                      claire.horton@betatechnology.co.uk

Website:           www.nutrimenthe.eu

Project summary

There is evidence that the diet of pregnant women, infants and children could influence (programme) later mental performance, cognitive development and behaviour. This could have major implications for public health practice and policy development, economic progress and future wealth creation.

Nutrimenthe is a five-year study initiated to research the link between diet and mental performance, in particular, the role of specific nutrients in the cognitive, emotional and behavioural development of children from before birth to age 8. Nutrients being studied include B-vitamins, iron, zinc, protein in formula and breast milk and especially omega-3 fatty acids.  More than 17,000 mothers and 18,000 children are involved in epidemiological (population studies) and nutritional intervention studies taking place in centres around Europe. 

Nutrimenthe expects to generate a wealth of new information from its research and will link its findings to the results of neuropsychological tests, biochemical measurements and brain imaging studies.  Nutrimenthe also aims to establish positive dietary recommendations for the European population as a whole, especially for Omega-3 fatty acids. Nutrimenthe also aims to improve public knowledge especially that of parents, teachers and industry laying the foundations for appropriate health claims about how diet affects mental performance in children.

About the European Commission’s Seventh Framework Programme

The European Commission’s Framework Programme has been running since 1984 and is the European Union’s main scheme for funding research.  The current, Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) is the largest programme to date, committing €19bn for research from 2007-2013 including funding for Health, Information Communications Technology, Security, Transport, Environment. Nutrimenthe is funded by the Food, Fisheries, Agriculture and Biotechnology programme of FP7.