Associations of sitting time with leisure-time physical inactivity,education, and body mass index change

We aimed to investigate the associations of long-term leisure-time physical inactivity, body mass index (BMI) change, and education with sitting time in a 35-year follow-up based on self-reports in surveys. Influences of working status in 2011 and familial confounding on the associations were tested. Data were based on the population-based Finnish Twin Cohort of 5232 twins (53-67-year-old, 41% men) with four surveys in 1975-2011. Statistical analyses were performed using linear regression with several covariates. The effect of familial confounding (genetics and shared environment) was analyzed using a co-twin control design which should be interpreted as if familial confounding plays a role, an association should be seen among all individuals but not in discordant twin pairs. Compared to those not at work, those at work had a longer total sitting time/d. For those at work, higher education was associated with more total sitting but with less non-work sitting. Long-term leisure-time physical inactivity was associated with more non-work sitting among those at work, whereas long-term weight gain with more total and non-work sitting regardless of working status. Familial confounding attenuated the associations, except for the association of increasing BMI with total and non-work sitting among women at work. To conclude, total sitting time was longer among those still at work, but it was also influenced by long-term leisure-time physical inactivity, higher education, and an increase of BMI over the years. Public health efforts should be targeted to reduce sedentary behavior by promoting life-long leisure-time physical activity and weight control.     

Gut Microbiome Composition Is Predictive of Incident Type 2 Diabetes in a Population Cohort of 5,572 Finnish Adults

OBJECTIVETo examine the previously unknown long-term association between gut microbiome composition and incident type 2 diabetes in a representative population cohort.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSWe collected fecal samples from 5,572 Finns (mean age 48.7 years; 54.1% women) in 2002 who were followed up for incident type 2 diabetes until 31 December 2017. The samples were sequenced using shotgun metagenomics. We examined associations between gut microbiome composition and incident diabetes using multivariable-adjusted Cox regression models. We first used the eastern Finland subpopulation to obtain initial findings and validated these in the western Finland subpopulation.RESULTSAltogether, 432 cases of incident diabetes occurred over the median follow-up of 15.8 years. We detected four species and two clusters consistently associated with incident diabetes in the validation models. These four species were Clostridium citroniae (hazard ratio [HR] 1.21; 95% CI 1.04–1.42), C. bolteae (HR 1.20; 95% CI 1.04–1.39), Tyzzerella nexilis (HR 1.17; 95% CI 1.01–1.36), and Ruminococcus gnavus (HR 1.17; 95% CI 1.01–1.36). The positively associated clusters, cluster 1 (HR 1.18; 95% CI 1.02–1.38) and cluster 5 (HR 1.18; 95% CI 1.02–1.36), mostly consisted of these same species.CONCLUSIONSWe observed robust species-level taxonomic features predictive of incident type 2 diabetes over long-term follow-up. These findings build on and extend previous mainly cross-sectional evidence and further support links between dietary habits, metabolic diseases, and type 2 diabetes that are modulated by the gut microbiome. The gut microbiome can potentially be used to improve disease prediction and uncover novel therapeutic targets for diabetes.     

Oral health behavior at age of 11–12 years predicting educational plans at age of 15–16 years

Objective. The aim was to determine if oral health-related behavior at the age of 11–12 years predicts adolescents' educational plans at the age of 15–16 years when adjusting for gender and parents' occupational level. Materials and methods. The study population consisted of all fifth and sixth graders starting in the 2001–2002 school year in Pori, Finland (n = 1691); of these, 1467 returned properly filled questionnaires on behavior (toothbrushing and consumptions of xylitol products, candies, soft drinks and sports drinks) in 2001 and on educational plans in 2005. Parents' occupational levels were reported in 2001 by one of the parents of 1352 of these children. Associations between adolescents' educational plans and their behavior, gender and parents' occupation were evaluated using logistic regression model. Results. Children's oral health-related behavior at age 11–12, gender and parent's occupational level predicted their educational plans at age 15–16. Association between educational plans and behavior, especially cumulative health behavior, remained statistically significant when controlling for gender and parent's occupation: OR = 1.4 for difference of one good habit, and OR = 5.3 for difference of five good habits. Conclusions. Since difference in oral health-related behavior can be seen already in primary school, even when controlling for parents' occupational level, polarization of adolescents may begin already in primary school stage or even earlier.     

Genetic factors and susceptibility to falls in older women

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether genetic influences account for individual differences in susceptibility to falls in older women. DESIGN: Prospective twin cohort study. SETTING: Research laboratory and residential environment. PARTICIPANTS: Ninety-nine monozygotic (MZ) and 114 dizygotic (DZ) female twin pairs aged 63 to 76 from the Finnish Twin Cohort study. MEASUREMENTS: The participants recorded their falls on a calendar for an average+/-standard deviation of 344+/-41 days. Reported falls were verified via telephone interview, and circumstances, causes, and consequences of the fall were asked about. RESULTS: The total number of falls was 434, of which 188 were injurious; 91 participants had two or more falls. Casewise concordance was 0.61 (95% confidence interval (CI)=0.49-0.72) for MZ twins and 0.49 (95% CI=0.37-0.62) for DZ twins for at least one fall, 0.38 (95% CI=0.23-0.53) for MZ and 0.33 (95% CI=0.17-0.50) for DZ twins for at least one injurious fall, and 0.43 (95% CI=0.26-0.60) for MZ and 0.36 (95% CI=0.17-0.55) for DZ twins for recurrent falls. On average, the proportion of familial influences accounting for the individual differences in susceptibility to at least one fall was 30% and to recurrent falls was 40%; nongenetic familial and nonfamilial factors alone accounted for susceptibility to at least one injurious fall. CONCLUSION: In community-dwelling older women, familial factors underlie the risk of falling but not the risk of injurious falls.