Poor sleep tends to be patterned by sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors. The aim of this study was to examine the associations of sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors with sleep duration and insomnia-related symptoms across life course.

Childhood obesity is a considerable public health problem worldwide. In Europe, lower parental socioeconomic status (SES) relates to higher childhood adiposity. This scoping review strives to discover, which SES indicators are the most commonly used and meaningful determinants of childhood adiposity (greater level of continuous adiposity indicator, e.g. body mass index z-score, or overweight or obesity categorized by established definitions). The review focused on studies about European general populations from the 21st century (January 2000-April 2021) considering children and adolescents aged 0-17 years. PubMed and reference lists of articles were searched in February-April 2021. Total of 53 studies with 121 association analyses between different SES indicators and adiposity indicators, were identified and reviewed. Different SES indicators were grouped to 25 indicators and further to six indicator groups. The most used indicator was mother's education (n of association analyses = 24) and the most used indicator group was parental education (n of association analyses = 51). Of all association analyses, 55% were inverse, 36% were non-significant, and 8% were positive. Composite SES (80%), parental education (69%) and parental occupation (64%) indicators showed most frequently inverse associations with obesity measures (i.e. lower parental SES associating with higher adiposity), while parental income (50% inverse; 50% non-significant) and property and affluence (42% inverse; 50% nonsignificant) indicators showed approximately even number of inverse and non-significant associations. Instead, majority of parental employment (60%) indicators, showed non-significant associations and 33% showed positive associations (i.e. higher parental SES associating with higher adiposity). Despite some variation in percentages, majority of the associations were inverse in each age group and with different outcome categorizations. In girls and in boys, non-significant associations predominated. It seems that children with parents of higher SES have lower likelihood of adiposity in Europe. Parents' employment appears to differ from other SES indicators, so that having an employed parent(s) does not associate with lower likelihood of adiposity. Positive associations seem to occur more frequently in poorer countries. Criteria for uniform childhood SES and adiposity measures should be established and used in studies in order to be able to produce comparable results across countries.

Information on dietary adequacy is needed to assess food and nutrition security in a modern society, especially in the transition towards climate-friendly food systems. In this study, differences in the nutritional adequacy of diets among Finnish adults were evaluated in population groups of different education, income and urbanisation levels. The study used data from the FinDiet 2017 Survey (n = 1655, 18–74 years). Modelled usual intakes of foods and nutrients were evaluated relative to food-based dietary guidelines issued by the National Nutrition Council of Finland (FNNC) and with respect to nutrient adequacy following the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations and FNNC. For about half of the nutrients studied, intakes were found to be adequate. Intakes of protein, fat, saturated fatty acids and salt were estimated to be high. By contrast, inadequate intakes were seen in folate and vitamins A, D, B1, B2 and C in almost all groups studied. Groups with a higher education and income, groups that lived in urban areas and, in particular, women adhered more closely to recommended food consumption and nutrient intakes than others. However, major challenges posed by the Finnish diet are common to all groups studied, and only certain dietary features evaluated in view of nutritional adequacy are associated with socioeconomic differences.

Even though previous studies have shown that transgender youth have poorer mental health and more experiences of being bullied than their cisgender counterparts, and that bullying associates with poorer mental health, knowledge on such associations in different gender identity groups is scarce. This study investigated how mental health problems and experiences of being bullied appear across different gender identity groups, and how bullying is associated with mental health among the groups in question. Data from the Finnish School Health Promotion 2021 study (n = 152,880, mean age 16.2 years (standard deviation 1.22)) was used and categorized into four gender identity groups: cisgender girls (n = 76,521), cisgender boys (n = 69,735), transfeminine youth (n = 1317), and transmasculine youth (n = 5307). Transgender youth experienced more bullying and reported poorer mental health than cisgender youth. While transfeminine youth faced the most bullying, transmasculine youth had the most mental health symptoms. In each group, bullying associated with poorer mental health. Compared to cisgender boys without bullying experiences, odds of poorer mental health were dozens-fold among transmasculine youth with weekly bullying experiences. In addition, compared to cisgender boys with bullying experiences, odds of poorer mental health were greater among all other gender identity groups with bullying experiences, and among transmasculine youth in particular (e.g., odds ratio of generalized anxiety = 8.36 (95% confidence interval, 6.59–10.6)). Bullying is associated with poorer mental health in all youth, but transgender youth, and especially transmasculine youth, may be in an even more vulnerable position for its implications. This suggests that there is a need for improving effective measures to decrease bullying in schools and to improve wellbeing of transgender youth.

Summary: Objective: This prospective study explores whether dieting attempts and previous changes in weight predict changes in body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC).Methods: The study was based on the representative Finnish Health 2000 Survey and on its follow‐up examination 11 years later. The sample included 2,785 participants, aged 30–69. BMI and WC were determined at health examinations. Information on dieting attempts and previous changes in weight was collected using a questionnaire including questions on whether participant had tried to lose weight (no/yes), gained weight (no/yes) or lost weight (no/yes) during the previous year.Results: At baseline, 32.8% were dieters. Of these, 28.4% had lost weight during the previous year. Dieters had higher BMI and WC than non‐dieters. During the follow‐up, the measures increased more in dieters and in persons with previous weight loss. The mean BMI changes in non‐dieters versus dieters were 0.74 (standard deviation [SD] 2.13) kg/m² and 1.06 (SD 2.77) kg/m² (P = 0.002), respectively. The corresponding numbers for those with no previous weight change versus those who had lost weight were 0.65 (SD 2.07) kg/m² and 1.52 (SD 2.61) kg/m². The increases in BMI and WC were most notable in dieters with initially normal weight.Conclusions: The increases in BMI and WC were greater in dieters than in non‐dieters, suggesting dieting attempts to be non‐functional in the long term in the general population.

Red and processed meat (RPM) consumption associates directly with several unfavorable health outcomes and with environmental impact of diet. RPM consumption differs between certain population groups, and moreover, encompasses various subjective meanings. Literature on determinants of subjective importance of meat in diet (SIM), however, is scarce. Aims of this study were to determine which sociodemographic and -economic characteristics associate with SIM and RPM consumption. The study was based on the FinHealth 2017 Study. The sample comprised 4671 participants aged 18-74 years. SIM was asked with a question including five response options from "not important at all" to "very important". Habitual dietary intake including RPM consumption was studied with a food frequency questionnaire. RPM consumption level grew in parallel with SIM categories. RPM consumption was high and SIM prevailing in men, those living in rural areas, and those with low education. Women living in household with children consumed more RPM than other women but did not find meat more important. Conversely, men living in household with children found meat more important but did not consume it more than other men. Domain analyses considering individuals within the highest RPM consumption quintile revealed that the oldest age group found meat significantly less important than the youngest group. In order to be able to lower RPM consumption at population level and to move towards healthier and climate-wiser diets, it is important to identify subgroups that consume much meat but also subgroups that find meat especially important. Such dietary transition may be especially challenging to subgroups that consume much meat and also consider it important. Actions to support the dietary transition in different population groups should be developed.