ASSO Project (Adolescents Surveillance System and Obesity prevention) is a study financed by the Italian Ministry of
Health, aimed at developing an innovative web-based system for a standardized collection of data on food
consumptions, lifestyles and body size in the adolescents attending high schools. One of the main objectives of the
project is to develop user-friendly and cost-effective tools to create a web-based software. A Systematic Literature
Review (SLR) on the most valid dietary and physical activity/fitness assessment methods used in the target population
has been perfomed. The implementation of the software is being done by using JAVA and the data archive system is
based on MySQL database, and a website of the project is being built up (http://www.assoproject.info). The following
tools were delivered: informative letter on the project and informed consent of the parents; Standard Operating
Procedure (SOP); questionnaires and forms to be embedded within the software. In particular, the questionnaires for the
collection of food habits and lifestyle data include an ASSO-PIQ (Personal Information Questionnaire), an ASSOPASAQ (Physical Activity, Smoke and Alcohol Questionnaire) and an ASSO-FHQ (Food Habits Questionnaire). For
the food consumption data collection, an ASSO-FFQ (Food Frequency Questionnaire) has been developed on the basis
of a SLR on the different European valid and reproducible assessment methods. Even for the fitness measurement tests,
a SLR has been carried out on the most valid techniques, in order to develop an ASSO-FTB (Fitness Tests Battery). The teachers will report anthropometric measures (weight, height and waist circumference) and results of the fitness tests on
an ASSO-WHFF (Weight, Height and Fitness Form). The delivered ASSO-toolkit will be agreed by the Italian National
Research Institute on Food and Nutrition (INRAN), to support the project with a high scientific quality. The
establishment of a well-defined surveillance system will help to better understand public health problems related to life
habits of the adolescents. It can be an example of good practice delivering a web-based surveillance instrument that
allows a cost-effective, timely, updatable and potentially permanent collection of data