- The 4P-CAN project logo will appear on the jerseys of ACS Zimbrii Lerești players starting with the second half of the 2023-2024 season. It is the first European research project to be promoted by a football team.
- The Center for Innovation in Medicine is implementing the 4P-CAN European project in Lerești with the goal of developing innovative and more efficient cancer prevention models through the involvement of citizens and local authorities.
- Symbol of the local community, ACS Zimbrii Lerești is the leader in Romania’s Fourth League, being undefeated this season.
March 10, 2024, Lerești. The Center for Innovation in Medicine and the ACS Zimbrii Lerești football club announce the initiation of a groundbreaking partnership for promoting a healthy lifestyle and, in particular, cancer prevention within the context of the 4P-CAN European project, which is implemented as a living lab in Lerești starting fall 2023.
Thus, starting with the second half of the Fourth League championship, in which ACS Zimbrii Lerești participates, the footballers’ jerseys will feature the 4P-CAN project logo. This is the first and only large-scale project part of the European Union’s Cancer Mission research and innovation priority to benefit from a non-traditional but high-impact societal exposure.
“When we received the offer from ACS Zimbrii’s representatives, who provided us with the opportunity to print the 4P-CAN logo pro-bono on the team’s jerseys, it was as if one of the most beautiful dreams had come true. I’ve said it before in meetings with the citizens of Lerești: the success of our project depends on the community’s reaction and citizen participation. The partnership we announce today shows that we are on the right path of innovation in cancer prevention through local synergies,” said Dr. Marius Geantă, coordinator of the 4P-CAN project and president of the Center for Innovation in Medicine.
“We are pleased to contribute to the promotion of health and the 4P-CAN research project, which I have personally supported from the beginning. Through this partnership, we aim to help spread the messages of the European Code Against Cancer to as many people as possible in the localities we will visit during this championship’s second half and also to those following us in the media and social media. Being healthy is a necessary condition both to play football and to enjoy football,” stated Bogdan Dascălu, coach of the ACS Zimbrii Lerești football team.
“We are proud that in Lerești commune we have a football team that honors us, undefeated this season, and contribute to the implementation of a top research project for cancer prevention. We welcome the partnership between ACS Zimbrii and the 4P-CAN project, which will once again make Lerești be spoken of in very good terms both locally and nationally and European,” said Marian Toader, Mayor of Lerești commune.
The partnership announced today follows a series of actions in which the research team from the Center for Innovation in Medicine has carried out in Lerești together with citizens and in partnership with local authorities, from conducting a world-first sociological study to organizing a series of meetings with citizens of all ages and launching the “Code for a Healthy Life” campaign on the occasion of World Cancer Day 2024, a campaign aimed at addressing three of the risk factors mentioned by the European Code Against Cancer – obesity, nutrition, and sedentarism applying the principle of personalized communication: the right message for the right person at the right time.
“Zimbrii will help us implement this concept of personalized communication because they will credibly convey the right message about cancer prevention for the right people, namely the team’s supporters, both during matches and training sessions and in online interactions on social media. It is an innovative way to promote health that we will develop together over the course of this championship’s second half,” concluded Dr. Marius Geantă.
10 Useful Things About Sedentarism, Obesity, Nutrition:
- Sedentarism, obesity, and nutrition are major but little-known risk factors for the onset of cancer and other chronic diseases.
- It is never too late to make changes regarding nutrition, physical activity, or to decide to lose weight.
- We should always focus on scientific truths and be aware that science is always evolving, whereas myths are fixed.
- Eating habits are formed in childhood, in the first 3 years of life (the first 1000 days) The home taste is never forgotten!
- Hunger is a sensation involving complex mechanisms in the brain, blood, and stomach.
- There are several interventions that can optimize nutrition: avoid eating while doing other activities (watching TV or using a tablet, mobile phone); include sufficient proteins and fibers in the diet; reduce the intake of refined carbohydrates – white flour, sweets, pastry products; drink enough water and reduce the consumption of juices and alcohol.
- Physical activity of any intensity is better than no activity. Even if you do not meet the recommended targets, the health benefits still occur.
- If you are a sedentary person, start physical activity literally with small steps. Then gradually increase the pace to the tolerance threshold of the body and up to the recommended limits.
- Reduce the time spent sitting and replace this time with physical activities even of low intensity (such as standing).
- Experts on the mentioned topics are not found on social media but in professional institutions (medical, psychological, schools, gyms, etc.).
