NutriECEC: Nutritional Health Equity in ECEC — Call HORIZON-CL2-2026-01-TRANSFO-03

Target Call: HORIZON-CL2-2026-01-TRANSFO-03: Tackling child poverty and ensuring disadvantaged children's access to ECEC

The structural inequalities within the EU persist in the form of child poverty and lack of access to quality early childcare programs, despite the Child Guarantee and poverty reduction targets outlined until 2030. In 2024, the number of children at risk of poverty or social exclusion grew compared to the data of 2019. Currently, there is insufficient research dedicated to the economic implications of child poverty for factors beyond education or the labor market impacts. The connection between child poverty and health status and, more specifically, nutritional health is a research gap. Children who experience poverty have an increased risk of being overweight, undernourished, developing food insecurity, micronutrient deficiencies, and chronic diseases associated with their eating habits. These factors lead to significant financial costs, which researchers fail to account for in their studies and underestimate the economic returns on investment in ECEC.