Winners of the World Obesity Day Europe Awards 2025
Organisations from six countries were selected as winners of the World Obesity Day Europe Awards for 2025.
The awards are presented annually by the European Coalition for People Living with Obesity (ECPO) and the European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO) for activities and initiatives related to World Obesity Day in Europe.
The winners for 2025 were Adipositas Verband Deutschland e.V. Germany; SFO, Iceland; La Mattina Dopo odv, Italy; OBEClust, Europe; The Israeli Forum for the Prevention of Weight Bias, Ariel University and Tel-Aviv Assuta Medical Center, Israel; and PAS GRAS, Portugal.
The ECPO Award for Best Patient or Public Engagement Programme
In recognition of awareness and information building about obesity and its treatment
Joint Winner: Adipositas Verband Deutschland
https://www.adipositasverband.de/
For the short film they produced to raise awareness of obesity as a chronic disease. It was promoted extensively on social media, published on their website, and used for meetings, lectures, and information events with patients and medical practitioners. More than 300 people attended a special event on World Obesity Day, where the film was shown in English and German.
The ECPO Award for Best Patient or Public Engagement Programme
In recognition of awareness and information building about obesity and its treatment
Joint winner: SFO, Iceland
SFO organised a major event that brought together key stakeholders to raise awareness and strengthen collaboration among policymakers, healthcare professionals, and individuals living with obesity including representatives from FFO (Félag fagfólks um offitu), policymakers from the healthcare system and the Ministry of Health, healthcare professionals from health centres, hospitals, and treatment institutions, and a wide group of the association’s members and individuals living with obesity.
The association also launched and presented the Icelandic edition of the book “Mom, What is Obesity?”
Diana Castillo, President of ECPO
World Obesity Day Europe is a wonderful opportunity for people living with obesity to help draw attention to the many challenges they face and to call for greater access to treatment, care, and education. The members of ECPO and our affiliated national organisations are looking forward to participating and organising events again in March,
The ECPO Award for the Best Participation and Engagement from NCD partners
For activities and publicity related to World Obesity Day Europe.
Winner: La Mattina Dopo odv
https://eurobesity.org/italian-association-la-mattina-dopo-looks-towards-2025-and-beyond/
For their campaign Body, Stereotypes and Prejudices: The Weight of Words. The project highlighted the stigma problem, especially around weight and young people, and included a heavyweight social media campaign as well as meetings with students and healthcare professionals.
The EASO Award for Best Collaborative Project
In recognition of projects conducted in partnership
Winner: OBEClust The European Cluster of Obesity Research Projects
https://easo.org/projects/obeclust/
OBEClust is formed by nine EU-funded projects working to address the obesity crisis in Europe: PAS GRAS, BIO-STREAMS, OBCT, eprObes, Obelisk, CoDiet, BETTER4U, SHIFT2HEALTH, and HealthyW8.
This cluster is addressing obesity across different areas: Preventing and addressing childhood & adolescent obesity (Bio-Streams; Obelisk; PAS GRAS); Early identification & prevention of obesity (eprObes, BETTER4U); Lifestyle & behavioural interventions (HealthyW8; SHIFT2HEALTH); Obesity risks & determinants (OBCT); and diet-related non-communicable diseases (CoDiet).
The OBEClust partners launched several initiatives, including a joint press release with a potential reach of more than 2 million; an in-person workshop in Brussels for World Obesity Day, active web and social media campaigns, and a free public webinar on Artificial Intelligence and obesity prevention.
The EASO Award for the Best National Training Programme
For the best training initiative held at country level
Winner: The Israeli Forum for the Prevention of Weight Bias, Ariel University and Tel-Aviv Assuta Medical Center, Israel
https://www.assuta.co.il/en/ and https://www.ariel.ac.il/wp/nutrition/en/
On February 27, 2025, we held a conference on weight bias in healthcare in Israel at Tel Aviv Assuta Medical Center. This event was a collaborative initiative between the Israeli Forum for the Prevention of Weight Bias, the Department of Nutrition Sciences at Ariel University, and the Department of Nutrition at Assuta Medical Centers. Organised by Dr. Shiri Sherf-Dagan (RD, PhD), Prof. Lena Sagi-Dain (MD), and Shahar Kochavi (RD), the conference aimed to bridge research insights with practical interventions to address and reduce weight bias in clinical settings.
The event featured three key sessions, each focusing on a crucial aspect of weight bias in healthcare:
- Understanding Weight Bias in Healthcare Professions – This session examined the prevalence of weight bias among healthcare professionals. Speakers discussed the stigma in medical settings, the impact on preventive care, and the patient-provider relationship.
- Strategies to Reduce Weight Bias in Healthcare – This session highlighted practical approaches to mitigating weight bias. Presentations covered practical and evidence-based interventions, training programs for medical staff, and simulation-based empathy training for healthcare students.
- Experiential Panel – A panel discussion featuring two healthcare professionals and three women with obesity, who shared their lived experiences with weight bias in clinical settings and provided insights on how to foster more inclusive and equitable healthcare practices.
The event drew over 100 participants, including clinicians, students, hospital staff, researchers, policymakers, and representatives from pharmaceutical companies.
It concluded with a call to action, urging institutions to integrate weight bias education into medical training and policy development to enhance patient care and equity in healthcare.
Diana Castillo, President of ECPO
It was very challenging to select the winners from the many entries we received. There were excellent initiatives throughout Europe helping the World Obesity Day Europe campaign to reach an estimated 300 million people
The ECPO Award for Social Media Engagement
In recognition of engagement on social media
Winner: PAS GRAS
PAS GRAS, a 5-year European-funded research and innovation project, has launched a campaign to mark World Obesity Day 2025 entitled ‘HEALTH UNLOCKED: From Small Steps to Real Changes’, designed to increase public awareness about environmental and behavioural determinants of obesity, aligned with the objectives of the PAS GRAS Campaign.
For this campaign, seven videos focused on key topics, important for obesity prevention, were developed and shared on several social media platforms, such as Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and X. The PAS GRAS World Obesity Day 2025 social media campaign had the support of 28 social media accounts with a geographically diversified audience, that added up to a combined sum of 262,162 followers.
A preliminary performance analysis indicates the campaign was successful in reaching a wide audience. The videos have been viewed at least 100,000 times and remain available on PAS GRAS’ YouTube channel for continued dissemination.
