Objectives: To examine trends in socioeconomic inequality in adolescent health over three decades, across fifteen health indicators: overweight, underweight, headache, stomachache, backpain, emotional symptoms, difficulties falling asleep, loneliness, low life satisfaction, low self-rated heath, smoking, drunkenness, physical inactivity, low vegetable intake, and inadequate toothbrushing.
Methods: The Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study in Denmark included nine identical surveys of 11-15-year-olds from 1991 to 2022, n = 35,423. For each health indicator, we measured absolute and relative socioeconomic inequality by prevalence differences and odds ratios between low and high socioeconomic groups.
Purpose: This study examined the prevalence of headache medicine use among Danish adolescents and explores the link between mental health, frequent headaches, and medicine use for headache. We hypothesized that poor mental health increases headache occurrence, leading to greater medicine use.
Methods: The 2022 Danish Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study surveyed 5292 students aged 11, 13, and 15.
Background: Active outdoor play is important for children's health and development, and playgrounds provide good places for play. However, the importance of playground use for health and well-being is unclear. Our scoping review aims to create an overview of all research on playground use and health benefits for children.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: A new school policy mandating 45 min physical activity daily during school was introduced in Denmark in 2014. We aimed to evaluate the effect of this policy on BMI in school-aged children. It was hypothesized that the school policy would decrease BMI, especially in the obese fraction of the population (90th percentile BMI).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Children are spending less leisure time with their friends in person and an increasing amount of time with digital screens. These changes may negatively affect children's physical and mental health. The Screen-Free Time with Friends Feasibility Trial will test the feasibility, including acceptability and compliance, of an intervention designed to reduce screen media usage and encourage physical interaction with friends during leisure time in 9-11-year-old children.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFundamental movement skills (FMS) are the basic skills children should develop but are low in children from high-income countries. Literature indicates that playgrounds can play an important role challenging children's balance, agility, and coordination. However, knowledge on the influence of playgrounds on children's FMS development is fragmented.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Heart rate (HR) monitors are rarely used by people living with disabilities (PLWD), and their accuracy is undocumented. Thus, this study aims to describe the HR response during the Team Twin co-running program and, secondly, to assess the agreement and accuracy of using HR monitors among PLWD.
Methods: This 16-week single-arm observational study included 18 people with various disabilities.
Background: Device-based measurement in physical activity surveillance is increasing, but research design choices could increase the risk of self-selection bias and reactive behaviour. The aim of this study is to compare the self-reported physical activity profiles of four different samples: participants in a large national survey, participants in a telephone-based survey of non-responders, participants in the large national survey who accepted the invitation to device-based measuring, and the same sample during the week of monitoring.
Methods: In October 2020, 163,133 Danish adults participated in a national survey and of those 39,480 signed up for device-based measurements.
Stress is a widespread phenomenon and young people especially are experiencing high levels of stress. School-related factors are the most frequently self-reported stressors among adolescents, but few interventions have targeted the school environment. This study evaluated the effectiveness of the Healthy High School (HHS) intervention on stress at a 9-month follow-up.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To investigate if the amount of peritoneal fluid (PF) in the Pouch of Douglas at oocyte pick-up (OPU) or OPU + 5 days predict severe late-onset ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) in women undergoing ovarian stimulation for assisted reproductive technology (ART).
Study Design: A secondary analysis of a dual-centre RCT on 1050 women referred for their first ART treatment in two public fertility clinics in Denmark and randomized 1:1 to GnRH-antagonist or GnRH-agonist protocol. All women from the two arms who were examined on day of OPU and OPU + 5 days were included in this study (n = 940).
Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act
February 2022
Background: Previous studies have shown that multicomponent interventions may improve meal frequency and eating habits in children, but evidence among young people is limited. This study evaluated the effect of the Healthy High School (HHS) intervention on daily intake of breakfast, lunch, water, fruit, and vegetables at 9-month follow-up.
Methods: The study included first-year students (≈16 years) attending high school in Denmark.
Physical activity (PA) can improve physical, mental, and social health, leading to quality of life (QoL). However, some are unable to participate independently due to age-related impairments or disabilities. This study protocol presents the design, methods, outcomes, strengths and limitations of the study "When Movement Moves" (WMM).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChronic backpain among adolescents is important because the prevalence is high, above 10%, and more than 10% of all adolescents experience impacts on important day-to-day activities. Chronic backpain tracks into adulthood and is associated with several health problems. The objective was to study trends in the prevalence of chronic backpain among adolescents 1991-2018, to examine the association with socioeconomic status (SES), and whether this association changed over time.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Healthy High School (HHS) intervention was developed to promote well-being among first-year high school students (~16 years of age) in Denmark by targeting stress, physical activity, meal habits, sleep, and sense of community. Thirty-one schools were randomly allocated to intervention (16 schools) or control (15 schools) groups in a cluster-randomized controlled trial. The purpose of this short communication was to compare characteristics of students and schools between 1) schools accepting to participate in the HHS study and non-participating schools using national survey data and 2) intervention and control schools using HHS baseline data.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To determine if subpopulations of students benefit equally from school-based physical activity interventions in terms of cardiorespiratory fitness and physical activity. To examine if physical activity intensity mediates improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness.
Design: Pooled analysis of individual participant data from controlled trials that assessed the impact of school-based physical activity interventions on cardiorespiratory fitness and device-measured physical activity.
Purpose: To investigate if rare gene variants in women with severe ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) provide clues to the mechanisms involved in the syndrome.
Methods: Among participants in a prospective randomized study (Toftager et al. 2016), six women with predicted low and six women with predicted high risk of OHSS developing severe OHSS (grades 4 and 5, Golan classification) were selected.
Process evaluation of public health interventions is important for understanding intervention results and can help explain why interventions succeed or fail. This study evaluated implementation of a school-based intervention combining educational and environmental strategies to prevent stress among Danish high school students. We investigated dose delivered, dose received, fidelity, appreciation, barriers and facilitators at the 15 intervention schools using mixed methods and multiple data sources: questionnaires among students, teachers and school coordinators; semi-structured interviews with school coordinators; telephone interviews with student counsellors; and focus group interviews with students and teachers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: The aim was to analyze trends in overweight and obesity in relation to socioeconomic position among Danish adolescents in the 20-year period 1998-2018.
Methods: The study used data on self-reported height and weight and parents' occupational social class (OSC) from 11-, 13- and 15-year-old schoolchildren in 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018, n = 22,177. The analyses included absolute social inequality in overweight/obesity (prevalence difference between low and high OSC) and relative social inequality (OR for overweight/obesity).
Background: The prevalence of low well-being, perceived stress and unhealthy behaviours is high among high school students, but few interventions have addressed these problems. The aim of this paper is to present a study protocol of a cluster randomised controlled trial evaluating the Healthy High School (HHS) intervention programme. The intervention programme is designed to improve well-being (primary outcome) by preventing 1) stress and promoting 2) sleep, 3) sense of community, 4) physical activity (PA) and 5) regular and healthy meals among high school students in Denmark.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFResearch Question: Are perinatal outcomes different after treatment with the gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonist versus the long GnRH agonist protocol for IVF?
Design: Perinatal outcomes were secondary outcomes in a large Phase IV, dual-centre, open-label, randomized controlled trial to compare GnRH antagonist and long GnRH agonist protocols in women <40 years undergoing their first assisted reproductive technology treatment. Women (n = 1050) were randomized in a ratio 1:1 from January 2009 to December 2013 and followed until December 2016. All fresh and frozen embryo transfer (FET) cycles from a single oocyte aspiration, resulting in a gestation (human chorionic gonadotrophin >10 IU/l) were included (n = 521).
Purpose: Investigating whether pre-ovulatory follicular fluid (FF) levels of selected proteins differ between women who do or do not develop severe ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) and evaluate whether they potentially could guide a "freeze-all" strategy.
Methods: FF was collected during a randomized controlled trial comparing OHSS in antagonist versus agonist protocol including 1050 women in their first assisted reproductive technology (ART) cycle during year 2009-2013. The present sub-study is a matched case-control study comparing FF levels of soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR), C-reactive protein, placental growth factor, vascular endothelial growth factor, and angiopoietins 1 and 2 in OHSS cases (n = 25, severe OHSS, and ≥ 15 oocytes), high-risk controls (n = 25, no OHSS, and ≥ 15 oocytes), and low-risk controls (n = 25, no OHSS, and 5-8 oocytes).
SSM Popul Health
December 2017
The aim of this study was to investigate social inequality in physical inactivity among adolescents from 1991 to 2014 and to describe any changes in inequality during this period. The analyses were based on data from the Danish part of the HBSC study, which consists of seven comparable cross-sectional studies of nationally representative samples of 11-15-year old adolescents. The available data consisted of weekly time (hours) spent on vigorous physical activity and parental occupation from 30,974 participants.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To compare self-reported quality of life, psychosocial well-being, and physical well-being during assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatment in 1,023 women allocated to either a short GnRH antagonist or long GnRH agonist protocol.
Design: Secondary outcome of a prospective phase 4, open-label, randomized controlled trial. Four times during treatment a questionnaire on self-reported physical well-being was completed.