Improving public health through a comprehensive approach to physical activity and obesity prevention was the focus of a visit by representatives of the international EuroHealthNet network to Bratislava, which included a visit to the Biomedical Research Center of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (BMC SAS). The event, held on 26–27 October, was organised by the Slovak Ministry of Health as part of the Swiss-Slovak cooperation project in the field of health, which is coordinated by the Bratislava Self-Governing Region, with the BMC SAS being one of the key project partners.
On Monday 26 October, sixteen representatives of member organisations of the EuroHealthNet network from seven European countries, including Slovakia, visited the BMC SAS. They were experts in the field of public health and the implementation of public policies to improve health. The visit included a brief presentation of BMC SAS’s activities in the field of physical activity and obesity prevention, a discussion on opportunities for linking research and community-oriented activities, as well as a tour of the Laboratory of Integrative Physiology, the Center for Obesity Management and the Center for Physical Activity at the BMC SAS, combined with practical demonstrations of physiological measurements.
The participants were accompanied by our researchers in the field of metabolic health and integrated exercise physiology, Barbara and Jozef Ukropcovci, as well as nutritionist Miriam Dojčárová and doctors Petra Baňáková and Daniela Grellneth, who work at the Center for Obesity Management.
“Our research shows that physical activity can influence the ageing process – significantly improving cognitive health and helping to prevent many chronic diseases. We have introduced a concept of group training sessions under expert guidance, which has proved successful, and we are gradually managing to expand it across Slovakia – thanks to collaboration with doctors, but also, for example, through the 14-week+ online coaching programme for patients with obesity, or our involvement in the Health Campus project,” says Professor Barbara Ukropcová, who heads the Center for Physical Activity and the Center for Obesity Management at BMC SAS.
The EuroHealthNet network brings together organisations and government bodies dedicated to public health, health promotion, disease prevention and the reduction of social inequalities. The visit to the BMC SAS was attended by Director Caroline Costongs and other representatives of the network, as well as representatives of national and regional health institutions from Finland, Germany, Latvia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Flanders, Scotland and Wales, as well as representatives from the Slovak Ministry of Health, the Slovak Ministry of Investment, Regional Development and Informatisation, and regional authorities.
At the BMC SAS Center for Physical Activity, headed by Professor Barbara Ukropcová, long-term group aerobic and strength training programmes have been running since 2017 for older people, patients with Parkinson’s disease, patients with obesity and cancer survivors, under expert supervision, with the measurable health benefits subsequently being investigated.
The center also carries out intervention studies focusing on the effects of exercise on the brain, memory, metabolism, physical fitness and various chronic conditions.
The BMC SAS also houses the first Center for Obesity Management accredited by the European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO). A team of doctors, nutritionists, physiotherapists and coaches provides comprehensive care for patients with obesity, based on lifestyle modification, which is combined with obesity management medication where indicated. One of the key objectives is also to research various options for targeted intervention using online coaching, smartwatches or collaboration with health insurance providers.
In September, they launched a new ‘14 Weeks+’ programme based on the experience and results of online coaching for patients with obesity in the ‘14 Weeks’ programme, supported by the DIG4HEALTH initiative and the Slovak Republic’s Recovery and Resilience Plan.
The BMC SAS is also one of the key partners in the Bratislava Self-Governing Region’s ‘Health Campus’ project (Swiss-Slovak Health Programme), which is due to be established in Petržalka in the coming years.
The Health and Sport Campus aims to bring together sport, health, prevention, education and research. The Health Campus’s activities will be aimed not only at school pupils and professional athletes, but will also provide new opportunities for an active lifestyle open to the general public. Parallel research, with the subsequent practical application of the results, will enable the continuous improvement of strategies for the prevention of chronic non-communicable diseases, based on lifestyle modification.
Text: E. Rybárová, BMC SAS
Photo: archive of B. Ukropcova, BMC SAS; E. Rybárová, BMC SAS
