Polish Scientists Lead Development of Anti-Obesity Smoothie for Children and Youth

Polish researchers are spearheading an international EU-backed project to develop an innovative functional smoothie derived from red grape processing leftovers to combat childhood obesity.

Innovative Smoothie against Childhood Obesity

An innovative smoothie drink will help children and youth avoid obesity. Carrying the scientific code name 4Sir2, it is designed to be very tasty and safe, and is created from red grape processing residues. Sixteen partners from nine countries are working on the innovative product, which will hit stores across Europe in a few years, with Polish scientists playing a leading role.

Childhood and youth obesity has ceased to be exclusively a problem for family doctors and dietary clinics. It has become a matter of public health, healthcare system costs, and the quality of the future labor market. In this context, the EU project 4Sir2 Smoothy—where Polish scientists play a key role and the bulk of research is conducted in the laboratories of the Łukasiewicz Research Network – Institute of New Chemical Syntheses—shows that prevention can also begin with food technology and the circular economy.

Childhood Obesity in Poland: Alarming WHO and COSI Data

The latest sixth round of the WHO European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative (COSI) for 2022–2024, covering nearly half a million young people across 37 countries, shows that 25 percent of children aged 7–9 live with overweight in the European region, including 11 percent with obesity. The range between countries remains wide: from 9 to 42 percent for overweight and from 3 to 20 percent for obesity.

Poland falls below the regional average. According to the Global Obesity Observatory compilation based on COSI 2022–2024 data, 32.9 percent of Polish eight-year-olds experience overweight or obesity, with obesity alone affecting 14.6 percent. The problem affects boys more frequently: 37.3 percent of boys have overweight or obesity compared to 28.6 percent of girls. Obesity was recorded in 18.6 percent of boys and 10.7 percent of girls, respectively.

Such data correspond well with conclusions from reports and studies by the OECD and the European Commission, according to which excess body weight among children and adolescents remains one of the main risk factors for chronic diseases. The authors point out that the problem is escalating alongside the entrenchment of sedentary lifestyles, high availability of highly processed foods, and social inequalities.

Project 4Sir2 Smoothy: Resveratrol-Infused Smoothie with EU Funding

In this context, the project “4Sir2 Smoothy: Building a Healthy Drink Ecosystem to Prevent Childhood Obesity” aims to combine functional food research with practical prevention. The goal is to develop a smoothie drink for young consumers containing bioactive ingredients obtained from red grape pomace, primarily trans-resveratrol.

Sixteen partners from nine countries are participating in the project. The leader is the Pro-Academia Center for Research and Innovation, and key scientific tasks are carried out by the Łukasiewicz Research Network – Institute of New Chemical Syntheses. It is there that methods for extracting valuable compounds from grape processing residues are being developed. Industrial partners supply the raw material, while units from Belgium, Germany, Italy, and the Warsaw University of Life Sciences are working on subsequent stages of the work.

In the future, the drink will be tested for its impact on weight reduction and health improvement in adolescents and young adults. Funded by the Horizon Europe program, the project started in September 2025 and is scheduled to run until February 2030 with a budget of 5 million euros.

Circular Economy in Food: Vineyard Waste as a Functional Ingredient

The method of producing the drink is very interesting. Grape pomace, which was previously treated as waste, becomes a source of substances with potential health-significance. Trans-resveratrol is a polyphenol known for its antioxidant properties and studied, among other things, for its impact on metabolism and the body’s energy management. Researchers emphasize that merely isolating the active substance does not solve the problem. Pomace contains a lot of water, and resveratrol constitutes a small part of its mass. Therefore, possibilities of utilizing other fractions are being studied in parallel, for example for producing additional ingredients for the food industry, fertilizers, or other products fitting into the circular economy model.

This is important because the fight against childhood obesity cannot be reduced to a single product. Regulations concerning food composition and marketing, education, physical activity, and solutions reducing social inequalities in access to a healthy diet are all necessary. The innovative drink can be part of this puzzle, but it will not replace systemic prevention.