Through the implementation of the DISH project, our aim was to deepen our understanding of the relationship between the digital world and young people’s eating habits, whilst at the same time developing practical tools to support professionals working with young people. One of the main objectives was to gather and organise knowledge on emotional eating, healthy nutrition and balanced lifestyles, transforming this knowledge into accessible educational resources. Furthermore, we also sought to strengthen the skills of youth workers, educators and organisations working with young people, enabling them to better understand the factors influencing eating behaviours and to develop strategies to promote healthier food choices. Another key objective was to create a platform bringing together educational content, activities and tools that could be used in different educational contexts. Throughout the project, we also sought to encourage cooperation between European partners, promote the sharing of experiences and contribute to raising awareness of nutrition-related challenges. We are increasingly living in a society influenced by technology and social media.
The application for the DISH – Discovering Important Strategies for Nutritional Health project arose from the partners' shared concern about the growing impact of the digital world on young people's eating habits. During our work with young people and youth sector professionals, we realised that social media, online challenges and unreliable information about nutrition were influencing behaviour, body image and food choices. At the same time, we identified that many youth workers and educators lacked practical tools to address these issues in a structured way. There was a need for accessible educational materials to help understand phenomena such as emotional eating, nutritional misinformation and social pressure associated with body image in the digital environment. The project was designed to respond to these needs through cooperation between European organisations, combining research, experience sharing and the development of educational resources. The aim was to create useful knowledge and transform it into concrete tools, such as the DISH platform and its educational content, capable of supporting professionals and contributing to more conscious food choices among young people.