Self-rated health, ethnicity and social position in a deprived neighbourhood in Denmark

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In recent years the close connection between SES and differences in health between ethnic groups have been subject to growing interest among researchers, and some studies have found an association between ethnicity and long term illness and poor health. However, there is limited research-based knowledge about health and illness in ethnic groups in Denmark and about ethnic Danes living in deprived neighbourhoods. The purpose of this study is to investigate associations between self-rated health and ethnicity and social position in a deprived neighbourhood in Denmark in which a relatively largely proportion of the residents are immigrants.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This study investigates the association between self-rated health used as dependent variable and ethnicity and social position (defined as index for life resources) as the independent variables. The analyses are based on data collected in a survey in a geographically bounded and social deprived neighbourhood, Korskaerparken, located in the municipality of Fredericia in Denmark. The sample consisted of 31% of the residents in Korskaerparken and of these 29% have an ethnic background other than Danish.</p> <p>The analyses were conducted using logistic regression adjusting for confounding variables.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>This study indicates no significant association between ethnicity and having poor/very poor self-rated health.</p> <p>On the other hand the study confirms that a strong and significant association between the number of residents' life resources and their self-rated health does indeed exist. The results clearly suggest that the more life resources an individual has, the lower is the risk of that individual reporting poor health.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results show a strong association between the residents' number of life resources and their self-rated health. In this study, we were not able to identify any association between ethnicity and self-rated health, i.e. our results suggest that ethnicity does not constitute an explanation to differences in self- rated health.</p

A High-Protein, Low Glycemic Index Diet Suppresses Hunger but Not Weight Regain After Weight Loss : Results From a Large, 3-Years Randomized Trial (PREVIEW)

Correction Volume 8 Article Number 736531 DOI 10.3389/fnut.2021.736531 Published JUL 23 2021Background: Previous studies have shown an increase in hunger during weight-loss maintenance (WLM) after diet-induced weight loss. Whether a combination of a higher protein, lower glycemic index (GI) diet and physical activity (PA) can counteract this change remains unclear. Aim: To compare the long-term effects of two diets [high protein (HP)-low GI vs. moderate protein (MP)-moderate GI] and two PA programs [high intensity (HI) vs. moderate intensity (MI)] on subjective appetite sensations during WLM after >= 8% weight loss (WL). Methods: Data derived from the 3-years PREVIEW randomized intervention study. An 8-weeks WL phase using a low-energy diet was followed by a 148-weeks randomized WLM phase. For the WLM phase, participants were assigned to one of the four groups: HP-MI, HP-HI, MP-MI, and MP-HI. Available data from 2,223 participants with overweight or obesity (68% women; BMI >= 25 kg/m(2)). Appetite sensations including satiety, hunger, desire to eat, and desire to eat something sweet during the two phases (at 0, 8 weeks and 26, 52, 104, and 156 weeks) were assessed based on the recall of feelings during the previous week using visual analogue scales. Differences in changes in appetite sensations from baseline between the groups were determined using linear mixed models with repeated measures. Results: There was no significant diet x PA interaction. From 52 weeks onwards, decreases in hunger were significantly greater in HP-low GI than MP-moderate GI (P-time x diet = 0.018, P-dietgroup = 0.021). Although there was no difference in weight regain between the diet groups (P-time x diet = 0.630), hunger and satiety ratings correlated with changes in body weight at most timepoints. There were no significant differences in appetite sensations between the two PA groups. Decreases in hunger ratings were greater at 52 and 104 weeks in HP-HI vs. MP-HI, and greater at 104 and 156 weeks in HP-HI vs. MP-MI. Conclusions: This is the first long-term, large-scale randomized intervention to report that a HP-low GI diet was superior in preventing an increase in hunger, but not weight regain, during 3-years WLM compared with a MP-moderate GI diet. Similarly, HP-HI outperformed MP-HI in suppressing hunger. The role of exercise intensity requires further investigation.Peer reviewe

Targeted prevention in primary care aimed at lifestyle-related diseases:a study protocol for a non-randomised pilot study

Background: The consequences of lifestyle-related disease represent a major burden for the individual as well as for society at large. Individual preventive health checks to the general population have been suggested as a mean to reduce the burden of lifestyle-related diseases, though with mixed evidence on effectiveness. Several systematic reviews, on the other hand, suggest that health checks targeting people at high risk of chronic lifestyle-related diseases may be more effective. The evidence is however very limited. To effectively target people at high risk of lifestyle-related disease, there is a substantial need to advance and implement evidence-based health strategies and interventions that facilitate the identification and management of people at high risk. This paper reports on a non-randomized pilot study carried out to test the acceptability, feasibility and short-term effects of a healthcare intervention in primary care designed to systematically identify persons at risk of developing lifestyle-related disease or who engage in health-risk behavior, and provide targeted and coherent preventive services to these individuals. Methods: The intervention took place over a three-month period from September 2016 to December 2016. Taking a two-pronged approach, the design included both a joint and a targeted intervention. The former was directed at the entire population, while the latter specifically focused on patients at high risk of a lifestyle-related disease and/or who engage in health-risk behavior. The intervention was facilitated by a digital support system. The evaluation of the pilot will comprise both quantitative and qualitative research methods. All outcome measures are based on validated instruments and aim to provide results pertaining to intervention acceptability, feasibility, and short-term effects. Discussion: This pilot study will provide a solid empirical base from which to plan and implement a full-scale randomized study with the central aim of determining the efficacy of a preventive health intervention. Trial registration: Registered at Clinical Trial Gov (Unique Protocol ID: TOFpilot2016). Registered 29 April 2016. The study adheres to the SPIRIT guidelines

Rare and low-frequency coding variants alter human adult height

Height is a highly heritable, classic polygenic trait with ~700 common associated variants identified so far through genome - wide association studies . Here , we report 83 height - associated coding variants with lower minor allele frequenc ies ( range of 0.1 - 4.8% ) and effects of up to 2 16 cm /allele ( e.g. in IHH , STC2 , AR and CRISPLD2 ) , >10 times the average effect of common variants . In functional follow - up studies, rare height - increasing alleles of STC2 (+1 - 2 cm/allele) compromise d proteolytic inhibition of PAPP - A and increased cleavage of IGFBP - 4 in vitro , resulting in higher bioavailability of insulin - like growth factors . The se 83 height - associated variants overlap genes mutated in monogenic growth disorders and highlight new biological candidates ( e.g. ADAMTS3, IL11RA, NOX4 ) and pathways ( e.g . proteoglycan/ glycosaminoglycan synthesis ) involved in growth . Our results demonstrate that sufficiently large sample sizes can uncover rare and low - frequency variants of moderate to large effect associated with polygenic human phenotypes , and that these variants implicate relevant genes and pathways