Tomi Mäki-Opas

Childhood Adversities and Socioeconomic Position as Predictors of Leisure-Time Physical Inactivity in Early Adulthood

BACKGROUND Limited knowledge exists on how childhood social, health-related and economic circumstances predict adult physical inactivity. Our aim was a) to examine how various childhood adversities and living conditions predict leisure-time physical inactivity in early adulthood and b) to find out whether these associations are mediated through the respondents own education. METHODS Young adults aged 18-29 were used from the Health 2000 Study of the Finnish. The cross-sectional data were based on interviews and questionnaires including retrospective information on childhood circumstances. The analyses were carried out on 68% of the original sample (N = 1894). The outcome measure was leisure-time physical inactivity. RESULTS Only a few of the 11 childhood adversities were related with physical activity in early adulthood. Having been bullied at school was associated with physical inactivity independently of the other childhood circumstances and the respondents own education. Low parental education predicted leisure-time physical inactivity in men and the association was mediated by the respondents own education. Respondents with only primary or vocational education were more likely to be physically inactive during leisure-time compared with those with secondary or higher education. CONCLUSIONS There is some evidence that few specific childhood adversities, especially bullying at school, have long-lasting effects on physical activity levels.

From margarine to butter: predictors of changing bread spread in an 11-year population follow-up

OBJECTIVE Finland is known for a sharp decrease in the intake of saturated fat and cardiovascular mortality. Since 2000, however, the consumption of butter-containing spreads - an important source of saturated fats - has increased. We examined social and health-related predictors of the increase among Finnish men and women. DESIGN An 11-year population follow-up. SETTING A representative random sample of adult Finns, invited to a health survey in 2000. SUBJECTS Altogether 5414 persons aged 30-64 years at baseline in 2000 were re-invited in 2011. Of men 1529 (59 %) and of women 1853 (66 %) answered the questions on bread spreads at both time points. Respondents reported the use of bread spreads by choosing one of the following alternatives: no fat, soft margarine, butter-vegetable oil mixture and butter, which were later categorized into margarine/no spread and butter/butter-vegetable oil mixture (= butter). The predictors included gender, age, marital status, education, employment status, place of residence, health behaviours, BMI and health. Multinomial regression models were fitted. RESULTS Of the 2582 baseline margarine/no spread users, 24.6% shifted to butter. Only a few of the baseline sociodemographic or health-related determinants predicted the change. Finnish women were more likely to change to butter than men. Living with a spouse predicted the change among men. CONCLUSIONS The change from margarine to butter between 2000 and 2011 seemed not to be a matter of compliance with official nutrition recommendations. Further longitudinal studies on social, behavioural and motivational predictors of dietary changes are needed.