Background and research question <p>Planning quality is considered to play a&#xa0;central role in the quality enhancement of health promotion and prevention. Despite a&#xa0;wide range of activities aimed at improving the quality of intervention proposals, there are problems in practice for implementation. This article analyzes the planning quality of nutrition-related IN FORM projects with regard to key challenges and support needs for impact-oriented project planning.</p> Methods <p>(1) A structured assessment of the planning quality of 42 intervention proposals for nutrition-related IN FORM projects was carried out using an a&#xa0;priori defined analysis grid and (2) interviews with project participants and evaluators of the projects were conducted and analyzed using content analysis.</p> Results <p>The analysis of the project proposals shows potential for focusing on four key aspects: differentiation between output and outcome targets, precise definition of targets, well-founded justifications for impact assumptions, impact logic in project planning. The time frame of the projects is a&#xa0;frequent obstacle to impact-oriented project planning, as evaluation results must be available by the project ending date, which tends to result in an overbearing high output focus. Overall, there is considerable potential for multifaceted support particularly in terms of specific quality assurance topics and formats for impact-oriented project planning.</p> Conclusion <p>The results provide insights into how the planning quality of nutrition-related IN FORM projects can be improved.</p>