Thanks to “Gezond Groeien” meal boxes, socially vulnerable families in youth aid eat healthier meals – with support from Colruyt Group Foundation and Foodbag

Wednesday, June 25, 2025

Gezond Groeien, the project through which the Vlaams Instituut Gezond Leven vzw will deliver meal boxes to families and young people in youth care, is financially supported for three years by the Colruyt Group Foundation and Foodbag. This will allow socially vulnerable families all over Flanders to order healthy meal boxes at a reduced rate. And thus eat healthier. "This project shows that with small adjustments to a common concept like meal boxes you can already go a long way to lowering the threshold to healthy food for people in socially vulnerable situations," say Rosa Luyten and Tine Vangroenweghe of Gezond Leven, the driving forces behind Healthy Growing.

Gezond Groeien meal boxes work in such a way that they relieve families/young people in youth care and strengthen their food skills. And this is because, thanks to the boxes, they get into the kitchen themselves, use (new) recipes and cooking techniques and learn to plan meals. Together with families and young people in youth care and their supervisors, Gezond Leven 2023-2025 co-creatively developed meal boxes tailored to their needs. This project aims to help reduce health inequalities. Because figures show that, especially for socially vulnerable families, it is more difficult to make the healthy choice and live healthier lives. ​

For families and young people in youth aid

Gezond Groeien’s target group are (very) young families who are struggling. Attachment problems, family violence, financial and other worries do not make it easy for parents and children to have an easy start. At the Centres for Integral Family Care (CIG), families get the chance to find direction and connection again. Parents, including pregnant teenage parents, live there temporarily with their children. With warm, nearby support, they help them grow in their role as parents. Together, they explore what is feasible for the parents and what needs the children have. ​

On the other hand, Healthy Growing also targets young people in independence modules within youth aid. These young people are 16 to 24 years old and also stay in a studio where they are guided to stand on their own two feet later on. They come from a difficult home situation, went through traumas, have no roof over their heads, have little recourse to family, have to take care of their payments themselves, are also looking for happiness and friends, ... They do not enjoy a carefree period of experimentation without many responsibilities, like other adolescents.  

Gezond Groeien works

"Through a pilot project with eight families and six young people, we developed  Healthy Growing Together," says Rosa Luyten, nutrition expert at Gezond Leven. "And the evaluation of the pilot project shows that this concept works. Thanks to the meal boxes, participants eat more varied meals, are in the kitchen more often and find pleasure in healthy eating."

This is also confirmed by Marinka from CIG Ten Anker in Ostend, who co-supervised the pilot project there. "Most meal boxes contain dishes that are too difficult and too special for our target group and then they drop out. They want 'normal' food most of all. Gezond Groeien's meal boxes are close to the target group. Think for instance of home-made hamburgers, spaghetti, stews, ... I am convinced that they will also still make these meals once they have left the CIG, because when they leave, I have to copy the recipe sheets for them so they can take them home."

Thanks to the Colruyt Group Foundation, Gezond Leven can also roll out the meal boxes on a large scale all over Flanders from the beginning of 2026. And this for a period of three years. For this they are working together with Foodbag. They are responsible for the development and delivery of the meal boxes. Moreover, Foodbag and Colruyt Group are also providing financial support by offering the boxes at a reduced rate.  ​

"At Colruyt Group Foundation, we believe that everyone has the right to healthy food - especially children and young people in vulnerable situations - in order to contribute positively to their physical, mental and social health," says Lauriane Boes, project manager at Colruyt Group Foundation. "Last year, we deliberately expanded our focus to strengthen their access to healthy food. Healthy Growing fits in perfectly with this. We are proud that we can support this project, together with Foodbag and with colleagues from the group who are actively supervising the project. It is a great example of how our foundation and the company together want to make a difference in society".

Tailor-made healthy meal boxes ​

As they are delivered a customised meal box several times at an economical rate, participants have the chance to try different dishes and strengthen their food skills. The box also includes a clear and detailed recipe sheet, with each step visually represented. To create a positive experience at the table and let them experience other aspects around healthy eating, the box also includes an assignment each time, focusing on self-discovery (e.g. tasting) and fun while cooking or shopping. ​

"The positive experiences of choosing your own meal, liking something unfamiliar, keeping an overview while cooking, trying out cooking techniques such as baking in the oven or stewing, ... motivates," knows Tine Vangroenweghe. "Young people and families discover what lies within healthy eating and repeat those skills. In between boxes, and after, they can get started with less support. For example, there are participants who, after a delivered meal with the same recipe, do their own shopping or go through the step-by-step plan on their own. In this way, the project works powerfully. A huge strength is that we use a common concept like meal boxes. That makes it easier to explain and also shows that it is not always necessary to develop something separate for people in a socially vulnerable situation."