RISIKOADFÆRD OG DET GODE LIV: Spørgsmål til en livsstil med øl, cigaretter og mangel på motion

This pilot study looks into the question of why some people continue a lifestyle of risk behaviour, knowing full well that this might cause them illness in the future. Risk behaviour in this study was defined by not meeting the recommendations from the Danish National Board of Health: Not to smoke, to keep a BMI lower than 25, to drink less than 14 (women) or 21 (men) standard drinks per week and to be physically active at least half an hour each day. Each interviewee failed to meet at least two of these recommendations and did not have plans to change his or her lifestyle. The aim of this study was to qualitatively investigate how four citizens from West Copenhagen, with high risk behaviour, regarded the concepts of health, illness and risk; the study also addresses the factors that would increase their motivation for lifestyle change. This study showed that the informants’ attitudes to risk behaviour were negotiated, created and maintained around the following themes which are part of a practical rationalism: “future”, “probability”, “it happens to others” and “luck”. The threat of illness caused by risk behaviour was expected to be the primary motivating factor for lifestyle change. The informants with high-risk behaviour had a short-term perspective that dominated their everyday lives. They didn’t expect to fall ill due to their risk behaviour, but if they did, they considered the disease to be the primary motivating factor for lifestyle change. &nbsp

Obesity Might Be a Predictor of Weight Reduction after Smoking Cessation

Background and Objectives. Approximately one in five ex-smokers reduces or maintains weight after smoking cessation but little is known about who succeeds to avoid weight gain. The purpose of this study was to identify predictors of weight reduction after long-term smoking cessation in a general population. Methods. Data was obtained from two Danish population-based cohorts (the Inter99 and the Helbred2006 study). Anthropometric measurements were performed by trained research staff. Out of 3.577 daily smokers at baseline 317 participants had quit smoking at the five-year follow-up for at least one year. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to determine predictors of weight reduction. Results. Thirteen percent reduced weight by at least 1 kg and 4% maintained their weight. Quitters with obesity had more than seven times higher odds than normal weight quitters to lose weight (OR 7.13 (95% CI 2.76–19.71)), and they had the largest median weight loss of 4.45 kg. The only other significant predictor of weight reduction was low tobacco consumption at baseline. Conclusions. Predictors of weight reduction after smoking cessation were high body mass index and low tobacco consumption at baseline. This study might motivate smokers with obesity to quit smoking and health professionals to give them support

E-cigarette use in global digital youth culture : A qualitative study of the social practices and meaning of vaping among 15–20-year-olds in Denmark, Finland, and Norway

Background: The introduction of e-cigarettes on the tobacco market has brought new regulatory challenges, and particular concerns relate to e-cigarette uptake among young people. The aim of this study was to explore the use and social meaning of e-cigarettes among Nordic young people and to discuss this in the context of current legislation. Methods: Thirteen focus groups were conducted with 46 Danish, Finnish, and Norwegian young people (24 boys) with vaping experience aged 15–20 years (mean age 17 years). Results: Young people's vaping stood out as an inherently social practice that was commonly interlinked with experimental use patterns. Relative to smoking, vaping was seen as socially acceptable and less harmful to health. Product innovations like flavour additives and nicotine-free liquid options added to perceptions of low harm, and innovative device design features facilitated new and playful user practices. Finally, digital markets eased the young people's access to e-cigarettes, and the digital world also represented an arena for e-cigarette exposure and self-presentation. They commonly viewed vaping-related content in their social media feeds and also produced such content themselves. Conclusion: Young people's vaping is a social practice interwoven in contemporary digital and global youth culture. Transnational regulations are needed to support individual countries in preventing e-cigarette use and exposure among young people.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Peran Perguruan Tinggi Mewujudkan Dinamika Kedamaian dalam Kehidupan Masyarakat

In any civilization, peacefulness or non-violence culture could be the ultimate end of human life. It contains human right principles to be achieved by community, civics, and nation. Albeit, in reality, the situation achieved is diametrically in the opposite to what expected where competition, contravention and social conflict arises very sharply unless a constructive conflict management is applied. The potentiality of social conflict to occur may be reduced to a tolerable rate when constructive dialogues can be built. The dialogues should be able to facilitate the development of convergence communication and the actualization of equality principles. Higher education processes will be one the most important institutions that could bring the actualization of the principles of peacefulness into reality. This could be true when education could assure the effectiveness of value transformation processes throughout generations. The role of high education institutions to make non-violence culture to become apparent is essential. The dynamic life in a peaceful culture can only be realized when a situation of welfare, equality and well expression of communication behavior are well maintained in the community life

The effect of adding group-based counselling to individual lifestyle counselling on changes in dietary intake. The Inter99 study – a randomized controlled trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Few studies have investigated the specific effect of single intervention components in randomized controlled trials. The purpose was to investigate the effect of adding group-based diet and exercise counselling to individual life-style counselling on long-term changes in dietary habits.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study was a randomized controlled intervention study. From a general Danish population, aged 30 to 60 years (n = 61,301), two random sample were drawn (group A, n = 11,708; group B, n = 1,308). Subjects were invited for a health screening program. Participation rate was 52.5%. All participants received individual life-style counselling. Individuals at high risk of ischemic heart disease in group A were furthermore offered group-based life-style counselling. The intervention was repeated for high-risk individuals after one and three years. At five-year follow-up all participants were invited for a health examination. High risk individuals were included in this study (n = 2 356) and changes in dietary intake were analyzed using multilevel linear regression analyses.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>At one-year follow-up group A had significantly increased the unsaturated/saturated fat ratio compared to group B and in men a significantly greater decrease in saturated fat intake was found in group A compared to group B (net change: -1.13 E%; P = 0.003). No differences were found between group A and B at three-year follow-up. At five-year follow-up group A had significantly increased the unsaturated/saturated fat ratio (net change: 0.09; P = 0.01) and the fish intake compared to group B (net change: 5.4 g/day; P = 0.05). Further, in men a non-significant tendency of a greater decrease was found at five year follow-up in group A compared to group B (net change: -0.68 E%; P = 0.10). The intake of fibre and vegetables increased in both groups, however, no significant difference was found between the groups. No differences between groups were found for saturated fat intake in women.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Offering group-based counselling in addition to individual counselling resulted in small, but significantly improved dietary habits at five-year follow-up and a tendency of better maintenance, compared to individual counselling alone.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>The Inter99 study was approved by the local Ethics Committee (KA 98 155) and is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (registration number: NCT00289237).</p

Genetic determinants of serum vitamin B12 and their relation to body mass index

Lower serum vitamin B12 levels have been related to adverse metabolic health profiles, including adiposity. We used a Mendelian randomization design to test whether this relation might be causal. We included two Danish population-based studies (n(total) = 9311). Linear regression was used to test for associations between (1) serum vitamin B12 levels and body mass index (BMI), (2) genetic variants and serum vitamin B12 levels, and (3) genetic variants and BMI. The effect of a genetically determined decrease in serum vitamin B12 on BMI was estimated by instrumental variable regression. Decreased serum vitamin B12 associated with increased BMI (P < 1 × 10(−4)). A genetic risk score based on eight vitamin B12 associated variants associated strongly with serum vitamin B12 (P < 2 × 10(−43)), but not with BMI (P = 0.91). Instrumental variable regression showed that a 20% decrease in serum vitamin B12 was associated with a 0.09 kg/m(2) (95% CI 0.05; 0.13) increase in BMI (P = 3 × 10(−5)), whereas a genetically induced 20% decrease in serum vitamin B12 had no effect on BMI [−0.03 (95% CI −0.22; 0.16) kg/m(2)] (P = 0.74). Nevertheless, the strongest serum vitamin B12 variant, FUT2 rs602662, which was excluded from the B12 genetic risk score due to potential pleiotropic effects, showed a per allele effect of 0.15 kg/m(2) (95% CI 0.01; 0.32) on BMI (P = 0.03). This association was accentuated including two German cohorts (n(total) = 5050), with a combined effect of 0.19 kg/m(2) (95% CI 0.08; 0.30) (P = 4 × 10(−4)). We found no support for a causal role of decreased serum vitamin B12 levels in obesity. However, our study suggests that FUT2, through its regulation of the cross-talk between gut microbes and the human host, might explain a part of the observational association between serum vitamin B12 and BMI. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10654-016-0215-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users