Does physical capacity explain the height premium?

The paper examines the role of physical capacity in the determination of the height premium by using the “Health 2000 in Finland” data that contain both self-reported information on the physical strenuousness of work, and information on muscle mass from medical examinations. Our results show that the height premium does not vary according to the physical strenuousness of work. We also find that muscle mass is not related to wages. Furthermore, we observe that the shortest men do physically very demanding work and the tallest do sedentary work, even after controlling for the effects of age and education.Height; Height premium; Body composition; Wages

Perceived health and cause-specific mortality among Finnish men and women aged 30 and over

Perceived health is strongly associated with subsequent mortality, but the causes of this association are not known. The purpose of the paper is to analyze the association between perceived health and mortality after controlling for sociodemographic characteristics, and to estimate whether the association varies by cause ofdeath. The study analyzed data from the Mini-Finland Health Survey, a nationally representative sample of 7,217 adults aged 30 and over in 1978-1980. A 12-year mortality follow-up was established by record linkage to death certificates at Statistics Finland. The study showed that perceived health was very strongly associated with mortality after sociodemographic adjustments; men reporting fairly poor or poor health had a 2.41 (95% confidence interval 1.96-2.96) times higher adjusted mortality than men reporting fairly good or good health. Among women, the corresponding relative risk was 1.71 (95% confidence interval 1.37-2.15). The strength of the association varied by cause of death. Future attempts to better understand the association between perceived health and mortality should begin at the cause-specific level. The explanations for the association are likely to vary for different diseases and causes of death

Self-Report Dieters: Who Are They?

Dieting attempts have become popular worldwide. Dieting, however, seems to have both positive and negative health-related consequences. So far, only a few studies have focused on the determinants of dieting in detail. This study explores the association between self-report dieting attempts and intentional weight loss (IWL) during the previous year and several demographic, lifestyle, health, and psychological factors in a cross-sectional study design using data from the representative Finnish Health 2000 Survey. The sample comprised 2147 men and 2378 women, aged 30–69. Information for potential determinants was assembled via health examinations, interviews, and questionnaires. Approximately 24% of the men and 39% of the women reported dieting attempts and 10% of the men and 15% of the women reported IWL. Dieting attempts were associated with younger age, education, BMI, formerly smoking, more favourable values in lifestyle variables, and unfavorable values in serum HDL and triglycerides, a worse sense of coherence, concerns about one’s appearance, and concerns about one’s health. Among men, diabetics and those sleeping ≤6 h a night more frequently reported dieting attempts and those with osteoarthritis reported IWL. Moreover, the gradient between BMI and dieting attempts was significantly stronger in men than in women. Men seem to attempt dieting when they have actual health-related reasons, while such reasons are not so strongly associated with dieting in women. These findings can be used for determining subpopulations with obesity and real weight-loss needs and, alternatively, subpopulations with normal weight unnecessarily attempting dieting

Self-Report Dieters: Who Are They?

Dieting attempts have become popular worldwide. Dieting, however, seems to have both positive and negative health-related consequences. So far, only a few studies have focused on the determinants of dieting in detail. This study explores the association between self-report dieting attempts and intentional weight loss (IWL) during the previous year and several demographic, lifestyle, health, and psychological factors in a cross-sectional study design using data from the representative Finnish Health 2000 Survey. The sample comprised 2147 men and 2378 women, aged 30–69. Information for potential determinants was assembled via health examinations, interviews, and questionnaires. Approximately 24% of the men and 39% of the women reported dieting attempts and 10% of the men and 15% of the women reported IWL. Dieting attempts were associated with younger age, education, BMI, formerly smoking, more favourable values in lifestyle variables, and unfavorable values in serum HDL and triglycerides, a worse sense of coherence, concerns about one’s appearance, and concerns about one’s health. Among men, diabetics and those sleeping ≤6 h a night more frequently reported dieting attempts and those with osteoarthritis reported IWL. Moreover, the gradient between BMI and dieting attempts was significantly stronger in men than in women. Men seem to attempt dieting when they have actual health-related reasons, while such reasons are not so strongly associated with dieting in women. These findings can be used for determining subpopulations with obesity and real weight-loss needs and, alternatively, subpopulations with normal weight unnecessarily attempting dieting

Association between educational level and smoking cessation in an 11-year follow-up study of a national health survey

Aims: There is a lack of longitudinal, population-based studies on the association between education and smoking cessation. A more thorough examination of this association is needed to address inequalities in smoking. Methods: The longitudinal Health 2000 Survey and Health 2011 Survey, representing the Finnish population aged > 30 years, were analysed. Of the 1352 baseline daily smokers, 945 (70%) provided a smoking status at the follow-up. The analytic sample size was 884 (excluding the follow-up occasional smokers). Self-reported questionnaire data and measurements (e.g. plasma cotinine) from the baseline were utilised. The outcome variable was smoking cessation at the follow-up, and the main explanatory variable was education. Logistic regression was the main method for statistical analyses. All of the analyses accounted for the sampling design. Results: At the follow-up, 28% of the baseline daily smokers had quit smoking. An adjusted regression model showed that highly educated respondents had a higher likelihood of quitting smoking compared with those with basic education. Controlling for demographic and health-related variables had a modest effect on this association. Higher scores for plasma cotinine, symptoms of depression and heavy alcohol use were associated with a lower likelihood of quitting smoking. The association between education and smoking cessation was weaker for women than it was for men. Conclusions: High education is associated with smoking cessation among the general adult population, especially among men. A higher plasma cotinine level is strongly associated with continued smoking among both sexes. Background variables only modestly affected the association between education and smoking cessation.Peer reviewe

Atopic dermatitis in adults: a population - based study in Finland

Background The prevalence of atopic dermatitis (AD) has increased, but studies in adult or elderly populations are sparse. Methods We investigated 12-month and lifetime prevalences of AD in the Finnish adult population ≥30 years of age and analyzed living environment factors, socioeconomic factors, lifestyle-related factors, and serum vitamin D levels for their associations with AD in a national health examination survey. Results The lifetime prevalence was 21.9% and 12-month prevalence 10.1%. The highest prevalence (lifetime 28.6%, 12-month 15.4%) was seen in subjects 30-39 years of age. Prevalence decreased with age. Subjects with highly educated parents were more likely to have active AD, though there was no effect of higher education in subjects themselves. Younger age and being an ex-smoker were associated with active AD. Female sex and daily smoking increased the risk in subjects 30-49 years of age. There was no dose– response relationship to serum vitamin D levels and no association with the living environment. Conclusions Our data show that the number of adult patients with atopic dermatitis has grown and prevalence numbers of AD in Finnish adults are among the highest reported. Together with the aging of the society, the burden of AD is not limited to childhood.Peer reviewe

DOES PHYSICAL CAPACITY EXPLAIN THE HEIGHT PREMIUM?

The paper examines the role of physical capacity in the determination of the height premium by using the "Health 2000 in Finland" data that contain both self-reported information on the physical strenuousness of work, and information on muscle mass from medical examinations. Our results show that the height premium does not vary according to the physical strenuousness of work. We also find that muscle mass is not related to wages. Furthermore, we observe that the shortest men do physically very demanding work and the tallest do sedentary work, even after controlling for the effects of age and education