Living with the New Nordic Diet

2014 ◽  
Vol 116 (8) ◽  
pp. 1247-1258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arun Micheelsen ◽  
Lotte Holm ◽  
Katherine O’Doherty Jensen

Purpose – Based on New Nordic Cuisine and Nordic dietary recommendations, the research centre OPUS has developed a healthy, sustainable and tasty New Nordic Diet (NND) with the goal of improving public health in Denmark. In order to determine the health potential of the NND, a six-month, controlled dietary intervention trial was conducted, in which participants procured NND foods at a specially designed intervention supermarket and prepared and consumed NND meals in their homes. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative sociological study was conducted among intervention participants in order to explore whether and how they appropriated this diet into their everyday food practices. Findings – Participants appropriated the NND by becoming co-producers of this diet, tailoring it to accord with individual preferences and the demands of everyday life. Findings indicate that while the taste of the NND is likely to appeal to wider groups of consumers, the tasks of food procurement and preparation are likely to constitute barriers to its adoption. The strictly controlled intervention setting enabled participants to learn how to comply with dietary composition despite their deviations from given menu-plans and recipes. The extent to which such compliance would be achieved outside this context by other consumers is questioned. Further studies are needed to determine whether more widespread consumption of the NND would in practice comply with Nordic dietary recommendations. Originality/value – The study provides insights relevant to health agencies, public health researchers and food companies regarding consumer appropriation of a dietary system, the health benefits of which are dependent upon dietary compliance.

2013 ◽  
Vol 80 (3) ◽  
pp. 1142-1149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henrik M. Roager ◽  
Tine R. Licht ◽  
Sanne K. Poulsen ◽  
Thomas M. Larsen ◽  
Martin I. Bahl

ABSTRACTIt has been suggested that the human gut microbiota can be divided into enterotypes based on the abundance of specific bacterial groups; however, the biological significance and stability of these enterotypes remain unresolved. Here, we demonstrated that subjects (n= 62) 18 to 65 years old with central obesity and components of metabolic syndrome could be grouped into two discrete groups simply by their relative abundance ofPrevotellaspp. divided byBacteroidesspp. (P/Bratio) obtained by quantitative PCR analysis. Furthermore, we showed that these groups remained stable during a 6-month, controlled dietary intervention, where the effect of consuming a diet in accord with the new Nordic diet (NND) recommendations as opposed to consuming the average Danish diet (ADD) on the gut microbiota was investigated. In this study, subjects (with and without stratification according toP/Bratio) did not reveal significant changes in 35 selected bacterial taxa quantified by quantitative PCR (ADD compared to NND) resulting from the dietary interventions. However, we found higher total plasma cholesterol within the high-P/Bgroup than in the low-P/Bgroup after the intervention. We propose that stratification of humans based simply on theirP/Bratio could allow better assessment of possible effects of interventions on the gut microbiota and physiological biomarkers.


2015 ◽  
Vol 117 (9) ◽  
pp. 2372-2386
Author(s):  
Jørgen Dejgård Jensen ◽  
Anne Vibeke Thorsen ◽  
Camilla Trab Damsgaard ◽  
Anja Biltoft-Jensen

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to conduct economic evaluation of a school meal programme based on principles of a New Nordic Diet (NND) by assessing the costs of the NND lunch, compared with packed lunch from home, and investigating potential effects of adjusting the NND principles underlying the school meals on the costs and on the rate of food waste. Design/methodology/approach – The analysis combines recipes, dietary records and food waste data from a school meal intervention with collected price data within an economic optimization framework. Findings – A New Nordic School meal programme consisting of a morning snack and a hot lunch based on fixed seasonal menu plans and with 75 per cent organic content is 37 per cent more expensive in terms of ingredient costs than corresponding packed school meals. This cost differential can be almost halved by introducing more flexible scheduling of week plans and reducing the level of organic ambition to 60 per cent. Reducing portion sizes could reduce the cost differential by an extra 5 per cent, which would also reduce food waste by about 15 per cent. Originality/value – Higher costs and food waste in a restrictive ingredient sourcing school meal programme can be reduced by increased flexibility in meal scheduling, reduction in organic content and reduced average portion size.


2014 ◽  
Vol 36 ◽  
pp. 20-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arun Micheelsen ◽  
Louis Havn ◽  
Sanne K. Poulsen ◽  
Thomas M. Larsen ◽  
Lotte Holm

2012 ◽  
Vol 15 (10) ◽  
pp. 1941-1947 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Mithril ◽  
Lars Ove Dragsted ◽  
Claus Meyer ◽  
Emil Blauert ◽  
Mathias Krog Holt ◽  
...  

AbstractObjectiveDiet has a significant impact on health, and ensuring that the population eats a healthy diet remains a public health challenge. Research is needed in order to improve the palatability of a healthy diet and make it attractive to the consumer. It has also been suggested that dietary recommendations should be tailored to regional conditions. The OPUS (Optimal well-being, development and health for Danish children through a healthy New Nordic Diet) project investigates whether it is possible to develop a healthy New Nordic Diet (NND) that is palatable, environmentally friendly and based on foods originating from the Nordic region. The present paper describes the overall guidelines for the NND, developed and investigated in the multidisciplinary, 5-year OPUS research project. All guidelines are described in relation to the key principles: health, gastronomic potential and Nordic identity, and sustainability.ResultsThe NND is described by the overall guidelines: (i) more calories from plant foods and fewer from meat; (ii) more foods from the sea and lakes; and (iii) more foods from the wild countryside. These overall guidelines result in a set of proposed dietary components which will be presented in a subsequent paper.ConclusionsBoth the guidelines and the diet are composed taking the potential health-promoting properties and Nordic identity of the NND into account, as well as concern for environmental issues and gastronomic potential.


2010 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 199-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosina-Martha Csöff ◽  
Gloria Macassa ◽  
Jutta Lindert

Körperliche Beschwerden sind bei Älteren weit verbreitet; diese sind bei Migranten bislang in Deutschland und international noch wenig untersucht. Unsere multizentrische Querschnittstudie erfasste körperliche Beschwerden bei Menschen im Alter zwischen 60 und 84 Jahren mit Wohnsitz in Stuttgart anhand der Kurzversion des Gießener Beschwerdebogens (GBB-24). In Deutschland wurden 648 Personen untersucht, davon 13.4 % (n = 87) nicht in Deutschland geborene. Die Geschlechterverteilung war bei Migranten und Nichtmigranten gleich; der sozioökonomische Status lag bei den Migranten etwas niedriger: 8.0 % (n = 7) der Migranten und 2.5 % (n = 14) der Nichtmigranten verfügten über höchstens vier Jahre Schulbildung; 12.6 % (n = 11) der Migranten und 8.2 % (n = 46) der Nichtmigranten hatten ein monatliches Haushaltsnettoeinkommen von unter 1000€; 26.4 % der Migranten und 38.1 % (n = 214) der Nichtmigranten verfügten über mehr als 2000€ monatlich. Somatische Beschwerden lagen bei den Migranten bei 65.5 % (n = 57) und bei den Nichtmigranten bei 55.8 % (n = 313). Frauen wiesen häufiger somatische Beschwerden auf (61.8 %) als Männer (51.8 %). Mit steigendem Alter nahmen somatische Beschwerden zu. Mit Ausnahme der Altersgruppe der 70–74-Jährigen konnte kein signifikanter Unterschied zwischen Migranten und Nichtmigranten hinsichtlich der Häufigkeit körperlicher Beschwerden gezeigt werden. Ausblick: Es werden dringend bevölkerungsrepräsentative Studien zu körperlichen Beschwerden bei Migranten benötigt.


2020 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellen N. Kersh ◽  
Cau D. Pham ◽  
John R. Papp ◽  
Robert Myers ◽  
Richard Steece ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT U.S. gonorrhea rates are rising, and antibiotic-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae (AR-Ng) is an urgent public health threat. Since implementation of nucleic acid amplification tests for N. gonorrhoeae identification, the capacity for culturing N. gonorrhoeae in the United States has declined, along with the ability to perform culture-based antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST). Yet AST is critical for detecting and monitoring AR-Ng. In 2016, the CDC established the Antibiotic Resistance Laboratory Network (AR Lab Network) to shore up the national capacity for detecting several resistance threats including N. gonorrhoeae. AR-Ng testing, a subactivity of the CDC’s AR Lab Network, is performed in a tiered network of approximately 35 local laboratories, four regional laboratories (state public health laboratories in Maryland, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington), and the CDC’s national reference laboratory. Local laboratories receive specimens from approximately 60 clinics associated with the Gonococcal Isolate Surveillance Project (GISP), enhanced GISP (eGISP), and the program Strengthening the U.S. Response to Resistant Gonorrhea (SURRG). They isolate and ship up to 20,000 isolates to regional laboratories for culture-based agar dilution AST with seven antibiotics and for whole-genome sequencing of up to 5,000 isolates. The CDC further examines concerning isolates and monitors genetic AR markers. During 2017 and 2018, the network tested 8,214 and 8,628 N. gonorrhoeae isolates, respectively, and the CDC received 531 and 646 concerning isolates and 605 and 3,159 sequences, respectively. In summary, the AR Lab Network supported the laboratory capacity for N. gonorrhoeae AST and associated genetic marker detection, expanding preexisting notification and analysis systems for resistance detection. Continued, robust AST and genomic capacity can help inform national public health monitoring and intervention.


Foods ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 393
Author(s):  
Eva Johansson ◽  
Maria Luisa Prieto-Linde ◽  
Hans Larsson

Consumer interest in local and organic produce, sustainability along the production chain and food products contributing to health, are laying the foundation for local and organic-based diets using nutrient-dense food. Here, we evaluated 25 locally adapted landrace and ancient spring cereal genotypes per location over four locations and three years, for mineral content, nutritional yield and nutrient density. The results showed a large variation in minerals content and composition in the genotypes, but also over cultivation locations, cultivation years and for genotype groups. Highest minerals content was found in oats, while highest content of Zn and Fe was found in ancient wheats. The wheat Diamant brun, the wheat landrace Öland and naked barley showed high mineral values and high content of Zn and Fe when grown in Alnarp. Nutritional yield, of the cereals evaluated here, was high related to values reported internationally but lower than those found in a comparable winter wheat material. The nutrient density was generally high; less than 350 g was needed if any of the evaluated genotype groups were to be used in the daily diet to reach the recommended value of Zn and Fe, while if the suggested Novel Nordic Diet mix was used, only 250 g were needed. A transfer from currently consumed cereals to those in the present study, along the New Nordic Diet path, showed their potential to contribute as sustainable and nutrient-rich sources in the human diet.


2014 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nima S. Ganga ◽  
V. Raman Kutty ◽  
Immanuel Thomas

Purpose – A public health approach for promoting mental health has become a major health policy agenda of many governments. Despite this worldwide attention on research addressing population mental health and general wellbeing, very little is heard on positive mental health from the low-and middle-income countries. This paper aims to present an attempt to develop a model of positive mental health among young people. This could be used for integrating the concept of positive mental health (PMH) into public health interventions. Design/methodology/approach – The study was conducted in the state of Kerala, India. The paper administered the “Achutha Menon Centre Positive Mental health Scale” to a sample of 453 (230 men and 223 women) in the age group 18-24, along with an interview schedule exploring the relationship of PMH with many explanatory variables such as sex, beliefs, religion, education, employment and social capital. The paper developed an input path model through a series of multiple regressions explaining the levels of PMH in the community, which was then tested statistically (using AMOS version 7.0). The input model was created by identifying the determinants and correlates of PMH based on their predictive power on the outcome variable, the PMH score. The input diagram was used to test the model fit of the data. Findings – The path model (Figure 1) clearly specified the determinants of PMH. Among them, the variables that have a direct determinant effect on PMH are: quality of home learning environment, employment status, education status, marital status, self-perception on possession of skills, happiness with life, membership in social organizations and socializing capability. Research limitations/implications – In this study, path model is used to confirm relationships among observed and latent variables. The path diagram assesses the comparative strength of the correlations between the variables and does not test the directionality. Or, the model itself cannot prove causation. Practical implications – Determinants of PMH those are amenable to interventions as well as those which help in recognizing characteristic groups for intervention could help to plan future intervention programs. Originality/value – Original paper based on primary data collected through a cross-sectional survey.


2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 309-322
Author(s):  
Jacey A. Greece ◽  
Joanne G. Patterson ◽  
Sarah A. Kensky ◽  
Kate Festa

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the utility of a redesigned course assessment in a required, introductory Master of Public Health (MPH) course to demonstrate competency achievement through practical application. School of public health curricula are informed by competency-based education (CBE) to prepare students for the field. This is a challenge in introductory courses as traditional assessments do not translate into practical application of knowledge. Design/methodology/approach – This retrospective post-test-only evaluation examined a practice-based, multi-disciplinary assessment utilized in Fall 2014 (n = 63 students). Web-based surveys were administered three months after the course to participating students (n = 33), the teaching team or teaching teams (n = 7) and organization representatives (n = 3) to evaluate the utility of the assessment. Questions were analyzed descriptively using chi-square tests, where applicable responses were compared across groups. Findings – Results indicate that a practice-based assessment in an introductory MPH course may enhance student learning by fostering deeper appreciation and application of course content while more closely reflecting the collaborative, multi-disciplinary and problem-solving nature of practice. The assessment may also increase the depth of competency achievement and career preparedness. Practical implications – Institutions that are guided by CBE, train students for multi-disciplinary practice and are impacted by the changing landscape of the field may want to consider course assessments that mimic practice to best prepare students. Originality/value – Course assessments should be evaluated to ensure they appropriately measure competency achievement. This evaluation provides multiple perspectives on the process and outcome of a practice-based course assessment.


2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yeonsoo Kim ◽  
Mari Luz Zapata Ramos

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how stakeholders perceive the motives behind fast food companies’ public health-related corporate social responsibility (CSR) and general social issue-related CSR initiatives, and their responses toward CSR in terms of supportive communication intent, investment intent, and purchase intent. The authors further examine the impact of perceived CSR motives on intent and whether a healthier chain image has an effect on stakeholder responses. Design/methodology/approach An online experiment was conducted. This study employed a randomized 2 (CSR type: health-related CSR vs generic social issue-related CSR)×2 (chain image: healthier chain vs general fast-food chain) full factorial design using general stakeholder samples. Findings For an ordinary fast food restaurant, generic social issue-related CSR programs elicited significantly more positive perceptions of CSR motives, supportive communication intent and investment intent, than public-health related CSR. When a company has a healthier image, stakeholders do not distinguish between CSR types. Stakeholders perceive both CSR types as stemming from mutually beneficial motives and show neutral to slightly positive reactions to both CSR. A positively perceived CSR motive plays a determinant role in anticipating communication, investment, and purchase intents. Originality/value This is the first study that examines stakeholder perception of motives behind and responses toward fast food chains’ health-related vs generic social issue-related CSR initiatives, in light of corporate image. The study findings help public relations practitioners, public health professionals, parent groups, and legislators understand stakeholders’ reactions toward CSR initiatives in the fast food industry and help them monitor practices for improvements.


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