Keyword: Public Health

In her research, Professor of Population Health Research Linnea Karlsson has examined the impact of early life experiences on our later development. Since the beginning, her scientific curiosity has been accompanied by a desire to help children and families at a societal level as well.

A new study found that prolonged standing at work had a negative impact on the research participants’ 24-hour blood pressure. In contrast, spending more time sitting at work was associated with better blood pressure. The study suggests that activity behaviour during working hours may be more relevant to 24-hour blood pressure than recreational physical activity.

Living in a greener environment has an impact on the composition of oligosaccharides in mother's breastmilk, which in turn may affect the infant’s health. A study conducted at the University of Turku showed that greater diversity and proportion of green environments in the residential area were associated with increased diversity in the composition of the oligosaccharides in breastmilk.

The Finnish Retirement and Aging study FIREA of the University of Turku used accelerometers to study how the 24-hour movement behaviours, i.e. sleep, sedentary behaviour, light physical activity and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity change in relation to each other when a person retires. The results show an increase in the amount of sleep, which contributed to decreased amount of physical activity.

A new study shows that living in a neighbourhood with socioeconomic disadvantage is a risk factor for adverse weight development in children under school age. Researchers studied the connection between neighbourhoods’ socioeconomic status and children’s weight development from data covering over 11,000 Finnish children.

The FIREA study, conducted at the University of Turku, revealed that the amount of sitting time increased in women after the transition to retirement. A similar change was not discovered in men. However, men did spend significantly more time sitting down than women, both during working life and retirement. Spending prolonged time periods sedentary, i.e. sitting down, lying or reclining during waking hours is harmful to health.

A new study shows that living or moving to a neighbourhood with a higher socioeconomic status is clearly associated with better adherence to dietary recommendations. Researchers studied the connection between neighbourhoods’ socioeconomic status and dietary choices from data covering over 16,000 Finnish adults.