Karin Bammann

• PD Dr. rer. nat.
• University of Bremen

Objectives Using participatory approaches to design health interventions is promising, and the ongoing digitalization has enabled the development of diverse digital formats for this purpose. These digital formats bring forth distinct advantages and challenges that should be carefully considered. This rapid review aims to present an overview of digi...

Background Maintaining good functional ability is a key component of healthy ageing and a basic requirement for carrying out activities of daily living, staying independent, and delaying admission to a nursing home. Even though women have a higher life expectancy and slower age-related muscle mass loss than men, they often show a higher prevalence...

Objectives To describe the prevalence of different types of physical activities and to explore the association between engagement in these physical activities and performance in the physical fitness dimensions among older adults living in Bremen, Germany. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Twelve subdistricts in Bremen, Germany. Participants...

Eating habits have a substantial effect on health, not only because of consumed foods and nutrients, but also because of the regularity of meals. This study investigates meal patterns in older adults. Data from 1198 adults (52.8% female) aged between 65 and 75 years, who resided in Bremen, Germany, were included in this cross-sectional study. Using...

Sustaining good bone health into older age is key for preventing osteoporosis. Bone health is associated with several lifestyle factors. This study investigates older adults’ adherence to bone health-promoting lifestyle recommendations dependent on osteoporosis status. Cross-sectional data of 1610 community-dwelling older adults (65–75 years) resid...

Objectives Accelerometers are widely applied in health studies, but lack of standardisation regarding device placement, sampling and data processing hampers comparability between studies. The objectives of this study were to assess how accelerometers are applied in health-related research and problems with accelerometer hardware and software encoun...

Background Regular physical activity (PA) is an important strategy for healthy ageing. Socioeconomic status was found to be a key determinant of PA, however, evidence on associations between socioeconomic status and PA among older adults is limited. The aim of this study was to contribute to research on the associations of socioeconomic status and...

Men’s Sheds are a community-based health promotion concept which brings men together to engage in joint activities. Prior research reported beneficial effects on health and well-being of the participants; however, evidence is limited. The main objective of this systematic review is to provide an extensive overview of current research on the effecti...

Introduction: Unintentional home injuries are a major health risk for children. To develop and implement appropriate interventions, both theoretical guidance and empirical evidence are required. While theoretical models informing injury prevention are available, detailed information on unintentional home injuries of children and parental risk perc...

Background Life satisfaction is associated with many important health outcomes among older adults and is an indicator of successful ageing. The present study aims to replicate earlier findings regarding relationships between satisfaction with various life domains and life satisfaction in older adults. The study furthermore explores how parental sta...

Background Since only few longitudinal studies with appropriate study designs investigated the relationship between objectively measured physical activity (PA) and overweight, the degree PA can prevent excess weight gain in children, remains unclear. Moreover, evidence is limited on how childhood overweight determines PA during childhood. Therefore...

Background Men are less likely to participate in health promotion. One approach to reach men is the concept of men’s sheds. This community-based health promotion concept brings older men together to engage in joint activities. Prior research revealed various health-related effects of men’s sheds, such as benefits for well-being and mental health. T...

The study of physical activity in older adults is becoming more and more relevant. For evaluation of physical activity recommendations, intensity-specific accelerometer cut-points are utilized. However, research on accelerometer cut-points for older adults is still scarce. The aim of the study was to generate placement-specific cut-points of ActiGr...

Background Physical fitness is a key component of independent living and healthy ageing. For the measurement of physical fitness in older adults, the Senior Fitness Test is a commonly used tool. The objective of this study is to calculate sex- and age-specific normative values for handgrip strength and components of the Senior Fitness Test for olde...

Unintentional injuries within the home are a major health risk for infants and toddlers. Previous theoretical and empirical work identified parental risk perception as a key determinant of parents’ preventive behaviour. Yet, little is known about how parents perceive their children’s risk for unintentional injuries within the home. Since unintentio...

Purpose The PRECEDE-PROCEED model (PPM) is a community-based participatory research (CBPR) framework for health promotion, yet the direct application of the PPM into practice is unclear. This paper describes how the PPM was adapted for the development and application of a pilot intervention study to promote outdoor physical activity (PA) in older a...

Background Men are exposed to different health risks than women. For instance, older men have an increased risk of social isolation. At the same time, they are less likely to participate in health promotion interventions and there is a lack of men-specific interventions. Men’s sheds are a concept of community-based health promotion for older men wh...

Background: A supportive environment is a key factor in addressing the issue of health among older adults. There is already sufficient evidence that objective and self-reported measures of the neighborhood environment should be taken into account as crucial components of active aging, as they have been shown to influence physical activity; particul...

Background Physical activity (PA) is one of the key determinants of healthy ageing. Research showed that time allocation plays an important role in PA. Therefore, an understanding of the time use of older adults is crucial for developing PA programs. The aim of this study was to examine the associations of time allocation and objectively measured P...

Background Physical activity (PA) is one of the key determinants of healthy ageing. Research showed that time allocation plays an important role in PA. Therefore, an understanding of the time use of older adults is crucial for developing PA programs. The aim of this study was to examine the associations of time allocation and objectively measured P...

Background Meteorological conditions are potential determinants of physical activity (PA). A profound understanding of the determinants of PA behaviour is required for PA promotion. This study examined the association between accelerometer-assessed PA and meteorological conditions among older adults. Methods This cross-sectional study included dat...

Reducing social inequalities in health and health determinants, including physical activity (PA), is a major challenge for public health. PA-promoting interventions are increasingly implemented. Little is known, however, about the impact of these interventions on social inequalities. For prioritizing interventions most likely to be effective in red...

Previous research indicates growing evidence that physical fitness is a powerful marker for individual health perspectives. Therefore, the IDEFICS and I.Family studies included measures of physical fitness and aimed to explore the relationship of physical fitness to youth health. However, given the complex structure of individuals’ physical fitness...

One central element of the IDEFICS and I.Family studies was the physical examination of the child including anthropometric measurements, blood pressure, heel ultrasonography and medical history. These examinations provided measurement data for central outcomes, like nutritional status, and were thus of high importance to the studies. For ease of su...

Many unfavourable health outcomes such as excess body weight and resulting cardiovascular and metabolic sequelae have developmental origins and track into adulthood. The IDEFICS and I.Family studies investigated the impact of dietary, behavioural and socioeconomic factors on non-communicable chronic diseases in a large diverse sample of European ch...

This chapter sets out the core questionnaires used in the IDEFICS and I.Family studies. Since the IDEFICS study looked at younger children, it used a single questionnaire which was filled out by the parents. This focussed mainly on the child but also included some questions about the family, such as socioeconomic status. The I.Family study looked a...

The collection of morning urine, stool, capillary and venous blood was a central component of the IDEFICS/I.Family studies to investigate the metabolic health of children, to assess gene expression of related genes, to determine correlates of bone health and to validate nutritional intake with biochemical markers. Saliva samples were used as a sour...

Background Despite its well-known benefits for health and well-being physical activity levels are insufficient and declining with age in Germany. Physical activity promotion programs for older adults are often not successful, one reason is insufficient relevance of intervention measures for the study population. Community-based participatory resear...

Background/objectives: In high-income countries, childhood obesity follows a clear socioeconomic gradient with greater prevalence in children with lower socioeconomic status (SES). The extent to which the trend of other social vulnerabilities over time and the accumulation of these vulnerabilities can affect children's weight is still unknown. Su...

Introduction The metabolic syndrome (MetS) is an important cluster of cardiovascular disease risk factors. MetS is diagnosed if at least three of the four components, namely visceral obesity, dyslipidaemia, hyperglycaemia, and hypertension, exceed certain cut-off values, where the cut-offs vary depending on sex, age and the proposed definition. Soc...

Objective: Socioeconomic disadvantages during childhood are hypothesised to have negative implications for health. We aimed to investigate the association between socioeconomic disadvantages and children's total metabolic syndrome (MetS) score at baseline and follow-up and the extent to which socioeconomic disadvantages over time and the accumulat...

Background: The promotion of physical activity (PA) plays a major role for healthy ageing even in older age. There is a lack of cross-sectional and longitudinal studies explicitly dealing with barriers and drivers to PA in older adults. Therefore the aims of this study are a) to determine the prevalence of insufficient physical activity (IPA) in 6...

Abstract Objectives To examine associations between social vulnerabilities and meeting physical activity (PA) and screen time (ST) recommendations during a 2-year follow-up. Methods 13,891 children aged 2.0-<9.9 from eight European countries were assessed at baseline and 8,482 children at follow-up. Children’s sports club membership, PA and ST w...

Objective: To describe dietary patterns by applying cluster analysis and to describe the cluster memberships of European children over time and their association with body composition changes. Design: The analyses included k-means clustering based on the similarities between the relative frequencies of consumption of forty-three food items and r...

The effect of socioeconomic inequalities on children’s mental health remains unclear. This study aims to explore the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between social vulnerabilities and psychosocial problems, and the association between accumulation of vulnerabilities and psychosocial problems. 5987 children aged 2–9 years from eight Eu...

The paper introduces the theoretical framework and methods/instruments used by the Physical Activity and Health Equity: Primary Prevention for Healthy Ageing (AEQUIPA) prevention research network as an interdisciplinary approach to tackle key challenges in the promotion of physical activity among older people (65+). Drawing on the social-ecological...

Background and aims: Adipokines may play a role in the pathogenesis of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) in children. We aimed to evaluate the association of leptin, adiponectin, and its ratio (L/A ratio) with the metabolic syndrome (MetS) in a subsample of the IDEFICS (Identification and prevention of Dietary- and lifestyle-induced health EFfects In...

Socio-economic inequalities in childhood can determine dietary patterns, and therefore future health. This study aimed to explore associations between social vulnerabilities and dietary patterns assessed at two time points, and to investigate the association between accumulation of vulnerabilities and dietary patterns. A total of 9301 children aged...

Background The negative impact of childhood overweight on psychosocial well-being has been demonstrated in a number of studies. There is also evidence that psychosocial well-being may influence future overweight. We examined the bidirectional association between childhood overweight and psychosocial well-being in children from a large European coho...

Context: The melanocortin-4 receptor gene (MC4R) plays a pivotal role in the regulation of body fat and food and energy intake. Objectives: To evaluate the association 1) of variants rs17782313 and rs17700633 nearby the coding region of MC4R and 2) of the transcript levels of MC4R with adiposity indices and percentage of energy from fat, carbohy...

Einstellungen, Antriebsfaktoren und Barrieren körperlicher Aktivität 65-75-Jähriger in Bremen

Socio-economic inequalities in childhood can determine physical activity (PA) and screen time (ST), and therefore future health. This study examined associations between social vulnerabilities and meeting PA and ST recommendations during a 2-year follow-up. 13,891 children aged 2-9 from eight European countries were assessed at baseline and 8,482 c...

Background: In highly developed countries, childhood overweight as well as many overweight-related risk factors are negatively associated with socioeconomic status (SES). Objective: To investigate the longitudinal association between parental SES and childhood overweight, and to clarify whether familial, psychosocial or behavioural factors can e...

Objective: This study was designed to explore the determinants of physical fitness in European children aged 6 - 11 years cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Methods: 4903 children (50.6% girls) had sufficient data on measured physical fitness (cardio-respiratory, muscular strength, flexibility, balance, and speed) and possible determinants rela...

Background: Starting from birth, this explorative study aimed to investigate between-country differences in body mass index (BMI) trajectories and whether early life factors explain these differences. Methods: The sample included 7,644 children from seven European countries (Belgium, Cyprus, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Sweden) participating...

The supplementary material file contains two further tables describing the study sample and measurements (Tables A, B), a formal description of the BMI growth model (Text A), the results of the basic BMI growth model (Table C) as well as four additional figures displaying associations between early life factors and BMI growth (Figs A to D). (DOCX)

Objective: The aim of the study was to assess the associations of individual and combined physical fitness components with single and clustering of cardio-metabolic risk factors in children. Subjects/methods: This 2-year longitudinal study included a total of 1635 European children aged 6-11 years. The test battery included cardio-respiratory fi...

Background and aims: Several studies demonstrated that larger neck circumference (NC) in children and adolescents may help to identify obesity and cardio-metabolic abnormalities. We aimed to evaluate the correlation between NC and metabolic syndrome (MetS) risk factors and to determine the utility of this anthropometric index to identify MetS in E...

Background/objectives: Childhood obesity is a major public health concern but evidence-based approaches to tackle this epidemic sustainably are still lacking. The Identification and prevention of Dietary- and lifestyle-induced health EFfects In Children and infantS (IDEFICS) study investigated the aetiology of childhood obesity and developed a pri...

Eine Sekundärdatenanalyse im Rahmen des Teilprojektes AEQUIPA/OUTDOOR ACTIVE

Overweight/obesity is an important public health burden worldwide, increasing the risk for the development of cardiovascular diseases or the metabolic syndrome. This risk may be reduced by a good aerobic fitness (AF) that can be improved by physical activity but is also influenced by genetic factors. The aim of this study was to test for familial a...

Exploring changes in children's diet over time and the relationship between these changes and socio-economic status (SES) may help to understand the impact of social inequalities on dietary patterns. The aim of the present study was to describe dietary patterns by applying a cluster analysis to 9301 children participating in the baseline (2 –9 year...

Objectives: To provide sex- and age-specific percentile values for levels of physical activity (PA) and sedentary time of European children aged 2.0-10.9 years from eight European countries (Sweden, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Cyprus, Spain, Belgium and Estonia). Methods: Free-living PA and sedentary time were objectively assessed using ActiGraph G...

Objectives: To provide oscillometric blood pressure (BP) reference values in European non-overweight school children. Design: Cross-sectional analysis from the IDEFICS study (www.ideficsstudy.eu) database. Methods: Standardised BP and anthropometric measures were obtained from children aged 2 to 10.9 years, participating in the 2007-2008 and 2...

To characterise the nutritional status in children with obesity or wasting conditions, European anthropometric reference values for body composition measures beyond the body mass index (BMI) are needed. Differentiated assessment of body composition in children has long been hampered by the lack of appropriate references. OBJECTIVES: The aim of our...

Background: Various twin studies revealed that the influence of genetic factors on psychological diseases or behaviour is more expressed in socioeconomically advantaged environments. Other studies predominantly show an inverse association between socioeconomic status (SES) and childhood obesity in Western developed countries. The aim of this study...

Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate if context-specific measures of parental-reported physical activity and sedentary behaviour are associated with objectively measured physical activity and sedentary time in children. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Seven European countries taking part in the IDEFICS (Identification...

Background/objectives: Children from lower socioeconomic status (SES) may be at higher risk of unhealthy eating. We described country-specific dietary patterns among children aged 2-9 years from eight European countries participating in the IDEFICS study and assessed the association of dietary patterns with an additive SES indicator. Subjects/met...

The early life course is assumed to be a critical phase for childhood obesity; however the significance of single factors and their interplay is not well studied in childhood populations. The investigation of pre-, peri- and postpartum risk factors on the risk of obesity at age 2 to 9. A case-control study with 1,024 1∶1-matched case-control pairs...

Background & aims Little is known about the validity of repeated 24-h dietary recalls (24-HDR) as a measure of total energy intake (EI) in young children. This study aimed to evaluate the validity of proxy-reported EI by comparison with total energy expenditure (TEE) measured by the doubly labeled water (DLW) technique. Methods The agreement betwe...

What is already known about this subject The expression of specific genes in peripheral blood cells (PBCs) may be used as biomarkers of the metabolic status. High levels of expression of CPT1A, SLC27A2, INSR, LEPR, FASN and PPAR in PBCs are indicative of a lower risk for the insulin resistant or dyslipidaemic state associated with obesity in childr...

To estimate the prevalence of physical activity and sedentary behaviours in European children, and to evaluate the relationship between media availability in personal space and physical activity in relation to total screen time. Data from the baseline IDEFICS (Identification and prevention of dietary- and lifestyle-induced health effects in childre...

To analyse the association between family structure and adiposity in children. Cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis of the IDEFICS (Identification and prevention of dietary- and lifestyle-induced health effects in children and infants) study cohort. Primary schools and kindergartens. Children (n 12 350; aged 7·9 (sd 1·8) years) for the cross-s...

Background As often only parents are addressed, studying parent-child agreement and its explanatory factors is crucial in gaining accurate information on young children's emotional problems. Method Parental and children's reports of children's emotional problems (anger, anxiety, sadness) and children's reports of life events were gathered between F...

Neuromedin U, encoded by the NMU gene, is a hypothalamic neuropeptide that regulates both energy metabolism and bone mass. The beta-2 adrenergic receptor, encoded by the ADRB2 gene, mediates several effects of catecholamine hormones and neurotransmitters in bone. We investigated whether NMU single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and haplotypes, as...

Objective: To assess the relationship between parental education level and the consumption frequency of obesity-related foods in European children. Design: The analysis was based on data from the cross-sectional baseline survey of a prospective cohort study. The effects of parental education on food consumption were explored using analysis of co...

The substantial increase in female employment rates in Europe over the past two decades has often been linked in political and public rhetoric to negative effects on child development, including obesity. We analyse this association between maternal employment and childhood obesity using rich objective reports of various anthropometric and other mea...

To examine variations in infant weight gain between children of parents with and without migrant background and to investigate how these differences are explained by pre- and perinatal factors. We used data on birth weight and weight at six months from well-child check-up books that were collected from a population-based German sample of children i...

The present study investigated taste preferences in a sample of 1705 children aged 6 to 9 years from survey centres in Italy, Estonia, Cyprus, Belgium, Sweden, Germany, Hungary, and Spain and aimed to identify factors correlated with taste preference. Children’s preferences for varying levels of sucrose (sweet) in apple juice and fat, sodium chlori...

OBJECTIVE: To compare different field methods for estimating body fat mass with a reference value derived by a three-component (3C) model in pre-school and school children across Europe. DESIGN: Multicentre validation study. SUBJECTS: Seventy-eight preschool/school children aged 4-10 years from four different European countries. METHODS: A standar...

Unlabelled: Children may be exposed to stressful situations with adverse effects on their physiological and psychological health. As cortisone may be a useful additional biomarker for stress research and as it has been shown to be detectable in human hair, this study measured physiological concentrations of hair cortisone in 223 elementary school...

Literature has repeatedly shown a relationship between hair minerals and metabolic health, although studies in children are currently lacking. This study aims to investigate hair levels of calcium (Ca), copper (Cu), magnesium (Mg), iron (Fe), phosphorus (P), and zinc (Zn) and their association with (1) overweight/obesity and (2) metabolic health in...