No significant associations between breastfeeding practices and overweight in 8-year-old children.

Aim: The aim was to examine if breastfeeding practices were associated with body mass index (BMI) and risk of overweight or obesity in third grade (8 years) of elementary school.

Methods: In a regional cohort, we related BMI z-scores and presence of overweight or obesity at 8 years of age with ever being breastfed and with duration of exclusive and partial breastfeeding after adjusting for potential confounders. Parents completed questionnaires on breastfeeding and sociodemographic and lifestyle factors at school entry, and public health nurses measured height and weight.

TECLA-an innovative technical approach for prostate cancer registries.

To present a code-driven, electronic database for patients TrEated with robotic-assisted radiCaL prostAtectomy (TECLA), developed at Innlandet Hospital (IH), Trust, Norway, for research, local quality control and to deliver data to the National Cancer Registry of Norway (CRN). Clinical data are directly extracted from the structured documentation in the electronic medical record (EMR). The urological department at IH treats about 200 patients with robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) annually.

Consumption of energy drinks among adolescents in Norway: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Energy drink (ED) consumption is increasing all over the world. We sought to describe the consumption of EDs among adolescents in Norway, and to explore the determinants of daily and high consumption.

Methods: Population-based cross-sectional data were collected from a sample of 31,091 secondary school students in grade 8-13 aged 12-19 years.

Predictors of return-to-work in patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain: A randomized clinical trial.

Objective: To assess the predictive effect of a multidisciplinary intervention programme, pain, work-related factors and health, including anxiety/depression and beliefs, on return-to-work for patients sick-listed due to musculoskeletal pain.

Design: A randomized clinical study.

Methods: A total of 284 patients were randomized to either a multidisciplinary intervention programme (n = 141) or to a less resource-demanding brief intervention (n = 143).

Thermal comfort sustained by cold protective clothing in Arctic open-pit mining-a thermal manikin and questionnaire study.

Workers in the Arctic open-pit mines are exposed to harsh weather conditions. Employers are required to provide protective clothing for workers. This can be the outer layer, but sometimes also inner or middle layers are provided.

A cross-sectional study to examine the association between self-reported sleep and the frequency, duration and intensity of exercise.

Background: Insufficient sleep is associated with increased risk of several health concerns. Although physical activity is generally considered to improve sleep, the influence of different levels of exercise frequency, duration and intensity respectively, has not been sufficiently examined to allow specific recommendations to the general population. Therefore, our aim was to evaluate the association between different levels of the three cardinal characteristics of exercise and sleep disturbance.

Musculoskeletal symptoms and exposure to whole-body vibration among open-pit mine workers in the Arctic.

Objectives: This cross-sectional questionnaire study was carried out at 4 open-pit mines in Finland, Norway, Russia and Sweden as part of the MineHealth project. The aim has been to compare the prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms between drivers of mining vehicles and non-drivers.

Material And Methods: The mine workers were asked whether they had suffered from any musculoskeletal symptoms during the previous 12 months in specified body regions, and to grade the severity of these symptoms during the past month.

The mortality in Gaza in July-September 2014: a retrospective chart-review study.

Background: The majority of Gazans who were killed or injured in the 2014 Israel-Gaza war were civilians, and one-fourth of the population were internally displaced. As the Gaza Strip is a small territory, the whole population was exposed to the war and its effects on the health care system, supplies and infrastructure. Our aim was to assess the overall, sex and age-group mortality in Gaza for the period July-September 2014 that was not caused by war injuries, and the proportion of non-trauma deaths among adults that occurred outside hospital wards.

Epidemiology of Cardiovascular Malformations among Newborns in Monchegorsk (North-West Russia): a Register-Based Study.

Background: Cardiovascular malformations (CVM) are one of the most prevalent groups of birth defects. Knowledge about the prevalence, distribution and survival in Russia has been limited. The aim of our study was to assess the perinatal prevalence, structure and risk factors for CVM among newborns in Monchegorsk (Murmansk Oblast, Russia) and the mortality among the affected newborns in the period 1973-2008.

Low back pain among mineworkers in relation to driving, cold environment and ergonomics.

Objectives: We aimed to study the association between low back pain (LBP) and exposure to low temperature, wet clothes, heavy lifting and jobs that involve whole body vibration (WBV) in a population of miners.

Methods: Health and personal data were collected in a population study by a questionnaire. A total of 3530 workers from four mines participated in the study.

Laparoscopic repair of incisional hernia in solid organ-transplanted patients: the method of choice?

Due to immunosuppressive (IS) therapy, incisional hernias are overrepresented in the organ-transplanted (Tx) population with larger defects, a high rate of recurrence, and a tendency toward more seromas and infectious problems. Thirty-one Tx/IS patients with a control group of 70 non-IS patients with incisional hernia (6/7 recurrences) were included in a prospective interventional study. Both cohorts were treated with laparoscopic ventral hernia repair (LVHR).

Low birth weight in newborns to women employed in jobs with frequent exposure to organic solvents.

The effects of occupational exposure to organic solvents in pregnancy on foetal growth are still unclear. Our aim was to study whether live newborns to women employed in paid jobs with frequent exposure had a different risk of being born with low birth weight (LBW), compared to those of women in jobs without such exposure. The study population was all singleton newborns delivered in the industrial township of Mončegorsk (N = 26,415).

How occupational health is assessed in mine workers in Murmansk Oblast.

Objectives: We aimed to describe how work exposure and occupational health is assessed for mine workers in Murmansk Oblast, Russia.

Study Design: A descriptive study based on current practice, laws and available literature.

Methods: The information and data were obtained from scientific publications, reports, regional and federal statistics, legal documents, through personal visits and on-site inspections.

Congenital anomalies in newborns to women employed in jobs with frequent exposure to organic solvents--a register-based prospective study.

Background: The foetal effects of occupational exposure to organic solvents in pregnancy are still unclear. Our aim was to study the risk of non-chromosomal congenital anomalies at birth in a well-defined population of singletons born to women employed as painters and spoolers in early pregnancy, compared to women in non-hazardous occupations.

Method: The study population for this prospective cohort study was singleton newborns delivered to working mothers in the industrial community of Mončegorsk in the period 1973-2005.

Infant growth disparity in the Khanh Hoa province in Vietnam: a follow-up study.

Background: Surveys in Vietnam have indicated that wasting and stunting have been prevalent among children, but the country is undergoing rapid socio-economic changes and little has been known about the relative situation in the different areas of the country. In 2006, the WHO introduced new growth standards applicable to all infant and child populations, which facilitates for improved assessments of the prevalence of growth impairment, independent of time, place and ethnicity. The aim of our study was to assess the growth of singleton infants delivered at term in three main birth clinics in the Khanh Hoa province in Vietnam by using the new WHO standards as reference, and the association between growth and some maternal, birth and health factors.

The current state of birth outcome and birth defect surveillance in northern regions of the world.

Objectives: Little is known about the rates of congenital anomalies in the northernmost regions of the world. As in other parts of the world, it is crucial to assess the relative rates and trends of adverse birth outcomes and birth defects, as indicators of population health and to develop public health strategies for prevention. The aim of this review is to catalogue existing and developing birth outcome and birth defect surveillance within and around the geographic jurisdiction of the International Union of Circumpolar Health (IUCH).

The incidence of neural tube defects in Norway and the Arkhangelskaja Oblast in Russia and the association with maternal age.

Objective: To determine the incidence of isolated anencephaly and spina bifida in the Arkhangelskaja Oblast (AO) in Russia and in Norway, and to study the maternal age distribution of these congenital defects.

Design: A register-based incidence study.

Setting: Two different populations in Northern Europe.

The incidence and maternal age distribution of abdominal wall defects in Norway and Arkhangelskaja Oblast in Russia.

Objectives: To determine the foetal incidence of isolated anterior abdominal wall defects (gastroschisis and omphalocele) in the Arkhangelskaja Oblast (AO) in Russia and in Norway, as well as to study the maternal-age distribution of these defects.

Study Design: A register-based incidence study.

Methods: All registered foetuses and newborns with at least 12 weeks of gestation in the populations of AO (141,159) and Norway (293,708) were included.

Cancer incidence in the Nenetskij Avtonomnyj Okrug, Arctic Russia.

Objectives: To assess the overall and main site-specific cancer incidence in Nenetskij Avtonomnyj Okrug (NAO).

Study Design: A register-based analysis of incidence in the period 1993-2006.

Methods: NAO, a part of Arkhangelskaja Oblast in north-west Russia, has a population of 42,000 inhabitants.

Maternal nickel exposure and congenital musculoskeletal defects.

Objective: To investigate whether women occupationally exposed to nickel in early pregnancy are at elevated risk of delivering a newborn with a malformation or deformation of the musculoskeletal system (ICD-10: Q65-Q79).

Methods: Data about the newborn, maternal occupation and workplace were obtained using the Kola Birth Register (KBR). Each record in the KBR was assigned a categorical nickel (Ni) exposure rating according to the occupation the delivering woman had at the time of becoming pregnant.

Spontaneous abortions among nickel-exposed female refinery workers.

A case-control study to investigate whether women employed in nickel-exposed work areas in early pregnancy are at elevated risk of spontaneous abortion (SA). Data about pregnancy outcome and maternal factors were obtained about each delivery and SA from women in selected work places. Each pregnancy record was assigned a categorical nickel (Ni) exposure rating according to the women's occupations at pregnancy onset.

Small-for-gestational-age newborns of female refinery workers exposed to nickel.

Objectives: It has not yet been established whether exposure to nickel (Ni) compounds may cause reproductive toxicity. The objective of this study was to investigate whether women employed under conditions of nickel exposure in early pregnancy were at elevated risk of delivering a newborn small-for-gestational-age (SGA).

Materials And Methods: A register-based study of a well defined population.

Pregnancy health and outcome in two cities in the Kola Peninsula, Northwestern Russia.

Objectives: The aims of the study were to compare the prevalence of selected maternal and lifestyle factors as well as the reproductive outcome of working women in two cities in Northwestern Russia (Moncegorsk and Apatity), and to assess the quality of pregnancy-outcome data obtained in an interview with registered information.

Study Design: A retrospective questionnaire study in an interview format. Women (n =1696) from selected workplaces in Apatity and Moncegorsk participated (85% of those available).

Genital malformations in newborns of female nickel-refinery workers.

Objectives: This study investigated whether pregnant women employed in nickel-exposed work areas are at elevated risk of delivering a newborn with a genital malformation.

Methods: In this register-based cohort study, data about pregnancy outcome and occupation were obtained using the Kola Birth Registry. Each record in the Registry was assigned a categorical nickel exposure rating according to the occupation the delivering woman had at the time of becoming pregnant, using, as guidelines, the water-soluble nickel subfraction of the inhalable aerosol fraction obtained by personal monitoring for nickel-refinery workers or the measured urinary nickel concentrations.

Cancer incidence in Arkhangelskaja Oblast in northwestern Russia. The Arkhangelsk Cancer Registry.

Background: Data concerning incidence and prevalence of cancer in the different regions of Russia have traditionally not been provided on a basis that facilitated comparison with data from countries in western parts of Europe. The oncological hospital in Arkhangelsk, in co-operation with Universitetet i Tromsø (Norway), has established a population based cancer registry for Arkhangelskaja Oblast (AO). AO is an administrative unit with 1.