This book describes key methods and instruments for assessing diet-related factors, physical activity, social and environmental factors, physical characteristics and health-related outcomes in children and adolescents. These tools were developed and deployed within the framework of the pan-European IDEFICS and I.Family cohort studies. These population-based field studies were funded within the 6th and 7th European Framework Programme, respectively, and were intended to assess the prevalence and aetiology of lifestyle-related diseases in children, focusing on overweight and obesity, and to develop effective strategies for primary prevention. In the course of a decade we undertook a major research endeavour, collecting standardised data from children, families, neighbourhoods, kindergartens, pre-schools and schools in eight European countries, employing a uniform cross-cultural methodology. This resulted in a rich picture of the daily lives and living contexts of children and their families. weiterlesen