Nutritional epidemiology research group

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Research group

01.01.1996 -

Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences

Information People Publications

Leaders

Jyrki Virtanen

Associate Professor

Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences
Sari Hantunen

Senior University Lecturer

Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences

We mainly do observational research, but also run clinical trials. Our main study population is the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study (KIHD), one of the most extensively examined study populations in the world. An important clinical trial is the Finnish Vitamin D Trial (FIND), a 5-y study of the effects of vitamin D supplementation on disease prevention. We are also involved in the Kuopio Birth Cohort study (KuBiCo), which investigates the effects of genetics and environmental and lifestyle factors during pregnancy on health status of the mother and the child.

In order to reduce costs and save time in data collection, we have created an internet-based and automated food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) to collect nutrition data in large study populations.

News

Taking higher-than-recommended doses of vitamin D for five years reduced the risk of atrial fibrillation

Taking higher-than-recommended doses of vitamin D for five years reduced the risk of atrial fibrillation in older men and women, according to a new…

Taking higher-than-recommended doses of vitamin D for five years reduced the risk of atrial fibrillation
Taking high-dose vitamin D supplements for five years did not affect the incidence of cardiovascular disease or cancer

A trial by the University of Eastern Finland found that taking a much higher dose of vitamin D than recommended for five years did not affect total…

Taking high-dose vitamin D supplements for five years did not affect the incidence of cardiovascular disease or cancer
Less meat, more foods of plant origin – new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations published

A new edition of the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations, NNR, was published this week. For the first time, they contain scientific recommendations on a…

Less meat, more foods of plant origin – new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations published
Are eggs a superpower for the brain and memory? A scientific article for children explains

An egg a day doesn’t seem to prevent or promote memory disorders. However, an egg a day may otherwise be beneficial for brain function, write the…

Are eggs a superpower for the brain and memory? A scientific article for children explains

Cooperation

Kuopio Birth Cohort (KuBiCo) 01.07.2012 -

PhD, nutrition epidemiologist Heli Virtanen: Dietary protein and protein sources and the risk of chronic diseases : associations with type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, heart failure and mortality among men from Eastern Finland (2023).

PhD, nutrition epidemiologist Maija Ylilauri: Associations of animal protein sources and dietary cholesterol and choline intakes with cognitive functioning: a prospective population-based cohort study (2023).

PhD. MD, Hanna-Mari Tertsunen: Adherence to a healthy Nordic diet and risk of coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes and mortality in men – a prospective population-based cohort study (2022).

PhD, MPHN Behnam Tajik: Adherence to a healthy Nordic diet and risk of coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes and mortality in men : a prospective population-based cohort study (2022).

PhD, MBBS Olubunmi Olubanwo: Fatty liver index and risk of incident cardiometabolic disease and mortality (2020).

PhD, MD, MPH Alex Aregbesola: Role of body iron stores in glucose homeostasis and type 2 diabetes, Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study (2016).

PhD, RD Teymoor Yary: Association of zinc, omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids, delta-5 and delta-6 desaturase activities with the risk of type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome: a prospective population-based study (2016)

PhD, nutrition epidemiologist Anu Ruusunen: Diet and Depression, an Epidemiological Study (2013).

PhD, pharmacist Anna Nurmi, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki. Health from Herbs? Antioxidant Studies on Selected Lamiaceae Herbs in vitro and in Humans (2008).

PhD, nutrition epidemiologist Jaakko Mursu: The role of polyphenols in cardiovascular diseases (2007).

PhD, nutrition epidemiologist Jyrki Virtanen: Homocysteine, folate and cardiovascular diseases (2005).

PhD, MD, psychiatrist Tommi Tolmunen: Depression, B vitamins and homocysteine (2005).

PhD, analytical chemist Tarja Nurmi: High performance liquid chromatography and coulometric electrode array detection: Analytical methods for biological samples containing lignans and isoflavonoids (2004).

PhD, nutrition epidemiologist Tiina Rissanen: Association of lycopene and dietary intake of fruits, berries and vegetables with atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases. Epidemiologic evidence (2003).

PhD, nutrition epidemiologist Meri Vanharanta (Helleranta): The role of serum enterolactone in lipid peroxidation and cardiovascular disease (2002).

PhD, nutrition epidemiologist Sari Voutilainen (Hantunen): Association of folate and homocysteine with atherosclerosis and the risk of acute coronary events : epidemiologic evidence (2000).

Keywords

cardiovascular disease cardiovascular risk factors chronic diseases clinical trials dementia depression diabetes diet dietary intervention dietary proteins fatty acids fish food memory disorders mercury methylmercury nutrition nutritional epidemiology population studies risk factors type 2 diabetes vitamin D vitamin D intervention studies vitamin D supplementation

Leaders

Professors

Tomi-Pekka Tuomainen

Professor

Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences

Refine your search

Nutritional epidemiology research group

Leaders

Jyrki Virtanen

Sari Hantunen

News

Taking higher-​than-recommended doses of vitamin D for five years reduced the risk of atrial fibrillation

Taking high-dose vitamin D supplements for five years did not affect the incidence of cardiovascular disease or cancer

Less meat, more foods of plant origin – new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations published

Are eggs a superpower for the brain and memory? A scientific article for children explains

Cooperation

Dissertations

Keywords

Leaders

Jyrki Virtanen

Sari Hantunen

Professors

Tomi-Pekka Tuomainen

Senior Researchers

Anu Ruusunen

Ari Voutilainen

Post-doctoral Researchers

Maija Ylilauri

Heli Virtanen

Doctoral Researchers

Anni Kukkonen

Jaakko Laine

Research partners

Leea Keski-Nisula

Tommi Tolmunen

Other group members

Eggs – a scoping review for Nordic Nutrition Recommendations 2023

Maternal caffeine intake during pregnancy and the risk of delivering a small for gestational age baby: Kuopio Birth Cohort

Maternal caffeine, coffee and cola drink intake and the risk of gestational diabetes – Kuopio Birth Cohort

Maternal dietary indexes are not linked to early childhood wheezing or atopic eczema

Meat and meat products – a scoping review for Nordic Nutrition Recommendations 2023

Omega-3 Blood Levels and Stroke Risk: A Pooled and Harmonized Analysis of 183 291 Participants From 29 Prospective Studies

Role of Polyunsaturated Fat in Modifying Cardiovascular Risk Associated With Family History of Cardiovascular Disease: Pooled De Novo Results From 15 Observational Studies

Worldwide trends in underweight and obesity from 1990 to 2022: a pooled analysis of 3663 population-representative studies with 222 million children, adolescents, and adults

Association of omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids with incident chronic kidney disease: pooled analysis of 19 cohorts

Associations of animal protein sources and dietary cholesterol and choline intakes with cognitive functioning: a prospective population-based cohort study

Dietary fat quality and serum androgen concentrations in middle-aged men

Dietary protein and protein sources and the risk of chronic diseases: Associations with type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, heart failure and mortality among men from Eastern Finland

Efficacy of vitamin D3 supplementation on cancer mortality: systematic review and individual patient data meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials

Global variation in diabetes diagnosis and prevalence based on fasting glucose and hemoglobin A1c

Multiplicative, additive, and interactive associations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D with lung and prostate cancer

Omega-3 Fatty Acid Biomarkers and Incident Atrial Fibrillation

The effect of vitamin D3 supplementation on atrial fibrillation in generally healthy men and women: the Finnish Vitamin D Trial

n–6 fatty acid biomarkers and incident atrial fibrillation: an individual participant-level pooled analysis of 11 international prospective studies

Are Eggs a Superpower for the Brain and Memory?

Associations between total dairy, high-fat dairy and low-fat dairy intake, and depressive symptoms: findings from a population-based cross-sectional study

Associations of dairy, meat, and fish intakes with risk of incident dementia and with cognitive performance: the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study (KIHD)

Associations of fermented and non-fermented dairy consumption with serum C-reactive protein concentrations – A cross-sectional analysis

Associations of serum n-3 and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids with prevalence and incidence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

Associations of the serum n-6 PUFA with exercise cardiac power in men

Egg and cholesterol intake, apoE4 phenotype and risk of venous thromboembolism: findings from a prospective cohort study

Longitudinal Analyses of Diet Quality and Maternal Depressive Symptoms During Pregnancy: The Kuopio Birth Cohort Study

Nonfermented Dairy Intake, but Not Fermented Dairy Intake, Associated with a Higher Risk of Depression in Middle-Age and Older Finnish Men

PUFA ω-3 and ω-6 biomarkers and sleep: a pooled analysis of cohort studies on behalf of the Fatty Acids and Outcomes Research Consortium (FORCE)

Vitamin D supplementation and prevention of cardiovascular disease and cancer in the Finnish Vitamin D Trial: a randomized controlled trial

A healthy Nordic diet score and risk of incident CHD among men: the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study

Adherence to a healthy Nordic diet and risk of type 2 diabetes among men: the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study

Blood n-3 fatty acid levels and total and cause-specific mortality from 17 prospective studies

Gut microbiome signatures of risk and prodromal markers of Parkinson disease

Serum n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids and risk of atrial fibrillation: the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study

The associations between whole grain and refined grain intakes and serum C-reactive protein

Worldwide trends in hypertension prevalence and progress in treatment and control from 1990 to 2019: a pooled analysis of 1201 population-representative studies with 104 million participants

n-3 Fatty Acid Biomarkers and Incident Type 2 Diabetes: An Individual Participant-Level Pooling Project of 20 Prospective Cohort Studies

Aina ajankohtainen D-vitamiini - uutta tietoa ihon ja aurinkosuojavoiteiden roolista

Caffeine content in newborn hair correlates with maternal dietary intake

D-vitamiini syövän ehkäisyssä - totta vai tarua?

Healthy Nordic Diet and Risk of Disease Death Among Men: The Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study

Dietary proteins and protein sources and risk of death: the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study

Egg consumption, cholesterol intake, and risk of incident stroke in men: the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study

Serum long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, hair mercury and exercise-induced myocardial ischaemia in men

Intake of Different Dietary Proteins and Risk of Heart Failure in Men The Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study

Intake of fermented and non-fermented dairy products and risk of incident CHD: The Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study

Kuopio birth cohort - design of a Finnish joint research effort for identification of environmental and lifestyle risk factors for the wellbeing of the mother and the newborn child

Serum n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids and risk of death: the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study

Associations of estimated delta-5-desaturase and delta-6-desaturase activities with stroke risk factors and risk of stroke: the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study

Taking higher-than-recommended doses of vitamin D for five years reduced the risk of atrial fibrillation