Organic and conventional public food procurement for youth in Denmark – a national overview

This report is a mapping of the activities within public procurement of organic food for youth in Denmark, with a special focus on school meals. In Denmark, it is voluntary whether local municipalities or schools arrange school meals or not. Over time, more and more schools or municipalities choose to establish school meal systems, but these vary extensively in the way they are organized, what kind of food is served, and how they are financed. This report includes an overall mapping of the different ways of organizing school meals and their dissemination. Organic food has also been increasingly debated in relation to public procurement for children and youth. Whether the subject of organic food is discussed and implemented depends on the local values, goals, resources and politics. Hence there are municipalities and institutions with no organic food at all, while others have an organic share of more than 90 %. This is particularly in the municipalities situated in the Greater Copenhagen area, and the Green cities cooperation. These cases are briefly described in the report, along with a short mapping of other municipalities using organic food in meals for daycare institutions or schools. The report was produced in the iPOPY project, “innovative Public Organic food Procurement for Youth”. Similar reports have been produced for the other iPOPY countries; Norway, Finland and Italy

Danske seniorers (65+) motiver og barrierer for fysisk aktivitet

The proportion of older adults is increasing in Denmark. At the same time physical activity is becoming an increasingly popular arena to prevent illness, promote health and increase life quality. This case study examined older adults’ (65-75 y) motives and barriers for participation in organised physical activity. Using a single embedded case study, we collected data through semi structured interviews and observation. The theoretical framework is Ryan & Deci’s Self-Determination Theory (SDT). Results of this study indicate that informants had several intrinsic and extrinsic motives. Among the extrinsic motives were better health, absence of illness, a good retirement and complying with social norms. A number of integrated and structural motives also exist: positive experience with sports, appropriate challenges, social interaction, diverse sports activities and freedom of choice. The older adults described barriers such as: difficult to self-initiate participation in sports, health related issues and lacking experiences with sports. Furthermore, the study discusses behaviour change triggers to stimulate healthy behaviour in old age using a revised FBM-model. In addition, organised physical activity that promotes satisfaction of the psychological needs is essential for the adherence. Based on the results and discussion, implications for practice are provided through recommendations on physical activity for older adults, based on organisation, activities and recruitment. Results of this study indicate that informants had several intrinsic and extrinsic motives. Among the extrinsic motives were better health, absence of illness, a good retirement and complying with social norms. A number of integrated and structural motives also exist positive experience with sports, appropriate challenges, social interaction, diverse sports activities and freedom of choice. The older adults described barriers such as: difficult to self-initiate participation in sports, health related issues and lacking experiences with sports. Furthermore, the study discusses behaviour change triggers to stimulate healthy behaviour in old age using a revised FBM-model. In addition, organised physical activity that promotes satisfaction of the psychological needs is essential for the adherence. Based on the results and discussion, implications for practice are provided through recommendations on physical activity for older adults, based on organisation, activities and recruitment

Insight into Stagnating Life Expectancy: Analysing Cause of Death Patterns across Socio-economic Groups

This article analyzes the complexity of female longevity improvements. As socio-economic status is found to influence health and mortality, we partition all individuals, at each age in every year, into five socio-economic groups based on an affluence measure that combine an individual’s income and wealth. We identify the particular socio-economic groups that have been driving the standstill for Danish females. Within each socio-economic group, we further analyze the cause of death patterns. The decline in life expectancy for Danish females is present for four out of five subgroups, however with particular large decreases for the low-middle and middle affluence groups. Cancers, smoking related causes, and other diseases particularly contribute to the stagnation. Moreover, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases are found to be important for capturing the following catch-up in longevity

Appeals to Autonomy and Obedience: Continuity and Change in Governing Technologies in Danish and Swedish Health Promotion

The increasingly used concept new public health indicates that a fundamental change has occurred in the goals and methods of disease prevention and health promotion. The change is often said to imply less expert-driven governing of citizens. In this article, governing technologies in the field of public health in Denmark and Sweden are analysed to investigate whether substantial changes have taken place in the governing efforts. In the endeavours unfolded in relation to health examinations for children and pregnant women during the last eighty years, no apparent evidence exists of a significant change in governing technologies. Regulatory, expert-driven and empowering technologies have been used during the whole period; additionally, appeals to autonomy, responsibility and obedience as well as to trust in authorities co-exist throughout the period. The fundamental change is the huge increase in the health authorities’ governing ambitions

Opioid substitution treatment in Finland and other Nordic countries : Established treatment, varying practices

Peer reviewe

Freedom on Water through Stand-Up Paddling: A qualitative study on physical bodily experiences and their influence on mental health

In Denmark mental disorders are the most prevalent disease, accounting for 25 % of the total burden of disease. This underlines the need of initiatives for prevention and treatment in which the role of physical activity and bodily experiences contains unexploited opportunities and obvious catches people’s attention. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences from people with mental disorders doing Stand-Up Paddle (SUP) and to explore if and how the experiences influenced their mental health. Anthropological fieldwork including participant observation and qualitative interviews for three months in Denmark among eight people living with mental disorders, participating in a project called ‘Freedom on water’ including SUP. Empirical material was thematically analysed at first and secondly theoretically analysed with perspectives of Merleau-Ponty, Deci & Ryan and Csikszentmihalyi. Themes identified concerned social interaction, nature, mind-body connection, and experiences of success. The participants’ mental health was affected positively by doing SUP. When fully concentrated, managing the (bodily) challenges on the SUP-board their rumination disappeared and they felt present in the moment. Forgetting oneself, flow, skills, coping mechanisms, self-confidence and positively social integration were strengthened. This study proves the value of including the physical body in initiatives for mental health