Descriptive analysis of preschool physical activity and sedentary behaviors - a cross sectional study of 3-year-olds nested in the SKOT cohort

Abstract Background Further collection of surveillance data is warranted, particularly in preschool populations, for optimizing future public health promotion strategies. This study aims to describe physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) across different settings, including time in and out of daycare, and to determine the proportion of children complying with suggested PA recommendations in a high income country. Methods Valid PA was assessed in 231 children (36.4 ± 1.1 months) with the Actigraph GT3X accelerometer, and information regarding date and time of dropping-off/picking-up children in daycare was provided by parents. Mean total PA (i.e., counts per minute (CPM)), moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), SB time, and non-SB time was generated and compared across settings. Post hoc, PA and SB were examined in subgroups of low-active (1st quartile) and high-active (4th quartile) children. Results Overall, boys and girls spent 1.4 ± 0.3 h/day and 1.2 ± 0.4 h/day in MVPA, respectively. Likewise, boys and girls accumulated 6.7 ± 0.8 h and 6.8 ± 0.9 h of SB time per day, respectively. Higher PA levels consistently co-occurred with lower SB time in the daycare setting. Girls accumulated less SB time in daycare than before and after daycare (β = −12.2%, p < 0.001 & β = −3.8%, p < 0.001, respectively). In boys, daycare-days contained more PA and less SB than non-daycare-days (CPM: β =29, p = 0.046, %MVPA: β = 0.83, p = 0.007, %SB: β = −2.3, p < 0.001, respectively). All children fulfilled recommendations of at least 3 h of daily non-SB. Eighty-nine percent of boys and 72% of girls met the daily 1-h MVPA recommendation for 5 year-olds. Lower proportions of children, especially boys, fulfilled MVPA recommendation on days with no daycare attendance. Generally, large mean differences in MVPA and SB were observed across all settings between the most active and the least active children, and only 7% of the low-active girls and 59% of the low-active boys fulfilled MVPA recommendations. Conclusions Overall, the majority of children fulfilled MVPA guidelines for 5 year-olds, and all children complied with suggested recommendations of 180 min of daily activity. Daycare time was found to represent an important setting for PA. Substantial and consistent differences observed in the amount of time spent physically active between high- and low-active children across all settings indicate substantial variations in young children’s PA levels irrespective of the context

Early intervention for childhood overweight:A randomized trial in general practice

Objective. To evaluate the effect of two intervention modalities concerning overweight and obesity among children in general practice. Design. Prospective randomized controlled trial. Setting. A total of 60 general practices in the former County of Funen, Denmark. Subjects. Overweight children, identified by International Obesity Task Force criteria, aged 5–9 years. Intervention. Model 1 with health consultations in general practice during a two-year period or Model 2, an educational programme for the children and their families in addition to the health consultations. Main outcome measures. Change in body mass index (BMI) z-score in order to compare the results, independent of gender- and age-related changes over time. Results. A total of 80 children were recruited with 35 and 45 children allocated to Model 1 and Model 2, respectively. No significant differences were found in the change in BMI z-score (SDS) between the two groups. A decrease in the mean BMI z-score from baseline to study end of −0.20 (95%CI −0.38 to −0.01) in Model 1 and −0.26 (95%CI −0.44 to −0.09) in Model 2, respectively, was detected. The majority of the participants (2/3) continued in the study for more than one year in both models, with a mean of 12 consultations in general practice. Conclusion. In this particular setting the two intervention strategies against overweight and obesity did not differ significantly with regard to change in BMI z-scores

Association between sexually transmitted disease and church membership:a retrospective cohort study of two Danish religious minorities

OBJECTIVES: Studies comprising Danish Seventh-day Adventists (SDAs) and Danish Baptists found that members have a lower risk of chronic diseases including cancer. Explanations have pointed to differences in lifestyle, but detailed aetiology has only been sparsely examined. Our objective was to investigate the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among Danish SDAs and Baptists as a proxy for cancers related to sexual behaviour. METHODS: We followed the Danish Cohort of Religious Societies from 1977 to 2009, and linked it with national registers of all inpatient and outpatient care contacts using the National Patient Register. We compared the incidence of syphilis, gonorrhoea and chlamydia among members of the cohort with the general population. RESULTS: The cohort comprised 3119 SDA females, 1856 SDA males, 2056 Baptist females and 1467 Baptist males. For the entire cohort, we expected a total of 32.4 events of STD, and observed only 9. Female SDAs and Baptists aged 20–39 years had significant lower incidence of chlamydia (both p<0.001). Male SDAs and Baptists aged 20–39 years also had significant lower incidence of chlamydia (p<0.01 and p<0.05, respectively). No SDA members were diagnosed with gonorrhoea, when 3.4 events were expected, which, according to Hanley's ‘rule of three’, is a significant difference. No SDA or Baptist was diagnosed with syphilis. CONCLUSIONS: The cohort shows significant lower incidence of STD, most likely including human papillomavirus, which may partly explain the lower incidence of cancers of the cervix, rectum, anus, head and neck

Urban energy planning in Turku:[PLEEC Report D4.2 / Turku]

Since industrialisation, Turku has been an important industrial town in Finland and still is. Today, after considerable restructuring of the industrial sector, most jobs (79 % in the city of Turku) are within services. Besides its economic base, Turku also is experiencing a change in the former prevailing urban sprawl, characterising urban development since the 1950s. The city is densifying and promoting sustainable urban develop-ment, though at a regional scale with several growth centres. Its future development is envisioned in the Structure model 2035, focusing on more compact urban development along public transport corridors. From the case report three issues arise which might be of considerable interest in a broader context of the PLEEC project:"br/""br/"1. Working with energy efficient regional urban structure (e.g. regarding urban sprawl) in a low density country and on a voluntary cooperative basis"br/"2. Keeping the industrial base in a city facing deindustrialisation and aiming for energy efficiency"br/"3. Decentralisation of energy supply enables new forms of settlements with the example of Skanssi Document type: Boo

Gastrointestinal Parasites of Two Populations of Arctic Foxes (<em>Vulpes lagopus</em>) from Northeast Greenland

Parasitological examination of 275 faecal samples from Arctic foxes (Vulpes lagopus) collected at Zackenberg Valley and Karupelv Valley in north-east Greenland from 2006 to 2008 was conducted using sieving and microscopy. Overall, 125 (45.5%) samples contained parasite eggs of Taenia crassiceps, Taenia serialis, Toxascaris leonina, Eucoleus boehmi, Physalopteridae and Ancylostomatidae, and Strongyloides-like larvae. As long-term ecological studies are conducted at both sampling locations, the present findings constitute a baseline data set for further parasitological monitoring

Forsyningskæder i forandring konsekvenser for logistik og transport

En omfattende og grundlæggende forandring af logistik- og godstransportmarkedet i Europa er i gang. Drivkræfterne i denne forandringsproces er bl.a. teknologisk udvikling, globalisering af samhandelsrelationerne og deraf følgende vækst i transportindhold. Alle disse udviklinger resulterer i strukturelle forandringer i den europæiske transportsektor bl.a. kendetegnet ved at kompleksiteten i forsyningskæderne og det samlede transportsystem forøges. I dette paper sammenfattes hovedresultaterne fra et projekt, der afklarer hvordan globaliseringen påvirker danske forsyningskæder og distributionssystemer, samt hvilke konsekvenser det har for logistik og godstransport i fremtiden. Resultaterne af undersøgelsen viser, at forsyningskæder påvirkes af globaliseringen, men konsekvenserne for logistik og transport afhænger af den specifikke kæde. Globaliseringen resulterer i et øget behov for transporter mellem kontinenterne og/eller landene, men transportindholdet i kæden behøver ikke nødvendigvis at stige i samme omfang, da tilpasningen af logistikken giver muligheder for effektiviseringer. Derfor er det nødvendigt at forholde sig til de enkelte kæders særpræg for at kunne vurdere ydre påvirkningers effekter på de konkrete kæder og konsekvenser heraf for logistik og godstransport