The YEAH! project aims to develop an innovative, personalized program to enhance the health of children (8–10 years old) and adolescents (14–16 years old) by targeting key behaviors such as physical activity, screen time, diet, and sleep. To achieve this, YEAH! will train their social environment (parents, teachers, etc.) to adopt interaction styles that promote healthy behaviors among children and adolescents, using digital solutions. The program is grounded in scientific knowledge and is co-developed with end-users and stakeholders to ensure it meets the needs of children and adolescents as effectively as possible.

The program will be implemented in three phases

Phase 1 & 2 (Years 1 & 2): The development of the behavioral intervention, including the technical creation of a mobile application that will serve as a key tool for training both children/adolescents and their social environment.
Phase 3 (Year 3): Implementation of the intervention in seven countries, reaching over 2,688 children and adolescents (approximately 400 per country) across eight schools, ensuring a socio-economically diverse target group.

"YEAH! is a fantastic opportunity to design and implement an intervention from start to finish and test it on a large scale. Our ultimate goal is a global rollout, engaging as many schools as possible to create a ripple effect," says Aïna Chalabaev, UGA Professor, project coordinator within the SENS laboratory in behavioral sciences, focusing on the promotion of physical activity and healthy behaviors.

A Highly Competitive Program Led by UGA, Bringing Together 16 European Partners

Out of 119 project proposals submitted under the Health Cluster of Horizon Europe’s Pillar 2, only three projects were selected for funding.

Coordinated by Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA), the YEAH! project involves 16 European partners from France, Romania, Denmark, Spain, Greece, the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, Finland, and the Netherlands:

1. Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA) as Coordinator
2. Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB)
3. Universitatea Babes Bolyai (UBB)
4. Syddansk Universitet (SDU)
5. Fundacion Privada Instituto De Salud Global Barcelona (ISGLOBAL)
6. Panepistimio Thessalias (UTH)
7. The Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU)
8. Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Clermont-Ferrand (CHU CF)
9. Ruprecht-Karls-Universitaet Heidelberg (UHEI)
10. Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)
11. Jyvaskylan Yliopisto (JYU)
12. Association Fleurbaix Laventie Ville Santé (FLVS)
13. École Normale Supérieure de Rennes (ENS Rennes)
14. Stichting Universitaire en Algemene Kinder - en Jeugdpsychiatrie Noord-Nederland (ACCARE)
15. Fundacio Institut d'Investigacio Sanitaria Pere Virgili (IISPV)
16. Université Rennes II (RENNES 2)

At UGA, the project involves about twenty people in 8 research laboratories:

• Recherche translationnelle et innovation en médecine et complexité (TIMC - CNRS/UGA - Grenoble INP-UGA/VetAgro Sup)
• Sport et environnement social (SENS - UGA)
• Pacte, Laboratoire de sciences sociales (CNRS/UGA – Sciences Po-UGA) 
• Laboratoire d’informatique de Grenoble (LIG - CNRS/Inria/UGA – Grenoble INP-UGA)
• Hypoxie et physiopathologies cardiovasculaires et respiratoires (HP2 - Inserm/UGA)
• Grenoble Alpes Recherche infrastructure de calcul intensif et de données (GRICAD - CNRS/Inria/UGA – Grenoble INP-UGA)
• Laboratoire d’économie appliquée de Grenoble (GAEL - CNRS/INRAE/UGA – Grenoble INP-UGA)
• Centre d’études et de recherches appliquée à la gestion (CERAG - UGA – Grenoble INP-UGA)