Diet, Lifestyle & Genetic Sensitivity
The type of food we eat constitutes the building blocks of the body. Every day, each Dane consumes an average of 3 kilogrammes of food and fluids, which amounts to a ton a year. We study associations between diet, lifestyle and health as well as morbidity. The central issues are:
- The association between diet and morbidity as well as mortality?
- How can changes in diet help prevent public health diseases such as cancer?
- Which role does genetic sensitivity play in the importance of diet and lifestyle?
Previously, research mainly focussed on the effect of individual elements of a diet, for instance specific types of food or specific nutrients. We study the combined effect of the diet and examine dietary patterns as well as the effects of replacing a specific type of food with another. For instance, how will the risk of disease change if you switch from eating a lot of meat to eating many vegetables? Our diet is a part of our overall lifestyle, and the importance of diet and lifestyle also partially depends on genetics. Thus, many studies examine the interaction between diet, lifestyle, genetics and morbidity as well as mortality.
Projects
- Diet, Cancer and Health is a follow-up study, which focusses on the association between diet, lifestyle, genetic sensitivity and morbidity as well as mortality among 57,000 participants, who have been followed for approximately 15 years.
- In the joint European research collaboration, European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), we follow 520,000 participants from 10 different countries, including the participants in the Diet, Cancer and Health study. We examine associations between diet, lifestyle and the development of cancer, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.
- We study the importance of dietary patterns and how the exchange of specific types of food and energizing nutrients affect the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases. The projects are carried out in collaboration with colleagues from research institutions in Copenhagen and Aalborg in Denmark as well as Harvard School of Public Health in the United States.
Scientific milestones
Establishment of the cohorts "Diet, Cancer and Health" and the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition.
Methods
Many studies are based on the Diet, Cancer and Health cohort, which is a study with 57,000 participants. At recruitment in 1993-1997, participants were 50-65 years of age, and we now follow them through Danish registries, including The National Patient Register, The Danish Cancer Registry and The Danish National Diabetes Register. At the time of enrolment into the study, we collected information on participants' diet, lifestyle and body composition as well as biological material, including blood, fatty tissue, urine and nails.
The Diet, Cancer and Health study is a part of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition where we follow a total of 520,000 participants. We have data on all participants collected in connection with the Diet, Cancer and Health Study.
