Overweight in childhood and consumer purchases in a Danish cohort

BACKGROUND: Prevention and management of childhood overweight involves the entire family. We aimed to investigate purchase patterns in households with at least one member with overweight in childhood by describing expenditure on different food groups.METHODS: This Danish register-based cohort study included households where at least one member donated receipts concerning consumers purchases in 2019-2021 and at least one member had their Body mass index (BMI) measured in childhood within ten years prior to first purchase. A probability index model was used to evaluate differences in proportion expenditure spent on specific food groups.RESULTS: We identified 737 households that included a member who had a BMI measurement in childhood, 220 with overweight and 517 with underweight or normal weight (reference households). Adjusting for education, income, family type, and urbanization, households with a member who had a BMI classified as overweight in childhood had statistically significant higher probability of spending a larger proportion of expenditure on ready meals 56.29% (95% CI: 51.70;60.78) and sugary drinks 55.98% (95% CI: 51.63;60.23). Conversely, they had a statistically significant lower probability of spending a larger proportion expenditure on vegetables 38.44% (95% CI: 34.09;42.99), compared to the reference households.CONCLUSION: Households with a member with BMI classified as overweight in childhood spent more on unhealthy foods and less on vegetables, compared to the reference households. This study highlights the need for household/family-oriented nutrition education and intervention.</p

Symptom presentation of SARS-CoV-2-positive and negative patients: a nested case–control study among patients calling the emergency medical service and medical helpline

Objective Currently effective symptom-based screening of patients suspected of COVID-19 is limited. We aimed to investigate age-related differences in symptom presentations of patients tested positive and negative for SARS-CoV-2.Design Setting Calls to the medical helpline (1-8-1-3) and emergency number (1-1-2) in Copenhagen, Denmark. At both medical services all calls are recorded.Participants We included calls for patients who called for help/guidance at the medical helpline or emergency number prior to receiving a test for SARS-CoV-2 between April 1st and 20th 2020 (8423 patients). Among these calls, we randomly sampled recorded calls from 350 patients who later tested positive and 250 patients tested negative and registered symptoms described in the call.Outcome Results After exclusions, 544 calls (312 SARS-CoV-2 positive and 232 negative) were included in the analysis. Fever and cough remained the two most common of COVID-19 symptoms across all age groups and approximately 42% of SARS-CoV-2 positive and 20% of negative presented with both fever and cough. Symptoms including nasal congestion, irritation/pain in throat, muscle/joint pain, loss of taste and smell, and headache were common symptoms of COVID-19 for patients younger than 60 years; whereas loss of appetite and feeling unwell were more commonly seen among patients over 60 years. Headache and loss of taste and smell were rare symptoms of COVID-19 among patients over 60 years.Conclusion Our study identified age-related differences in symptom presentations of SARS-CoV-2-positive patients calling for help or medical advice. The specific symptoms of loss of smell or taste almost exclusively reported by patients younger than 60 years. Differences in symptom presentation across age groups must be considered when screening for COVID-19