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Objective:The shift towards plant-based diets with less meat and more legumes is a global target and requires an understanding of the consequences of dietary adequacy on the population level. Our aim was to model the impact of partial replacement of red and processed meat with legumes on nutrient intakes and population shares below dietary reference intakes.Design:Modelling study with three scenarios anchored in meat cut-offs: ≤ 70 g/d (Finnish dietary guideline); ≤ 50 g/d (Danish dietary guideline); ≤ 30 g/d (EAT-Lancet recommendation). In all subjects, the amount of meat in grams over the cut-off was replaced with the same amount of legumes. The SPADE method was used to model usual intake distributions. Meaningful differences in average intakes and in population shares below dietary reference intakes compared to the reference (FinDiet) were evaluated based on non-overlapping 95 % CI.Setting:Finnish national food consumption survey (FinDiet 2017).Subjects:Finnish adults (n1655) aged18–74 years (47 % men).Results:The scenarios introduced increases in the average intakes of fibre, folate, K, Mg, Cu and Fe, and decreases in intakes of saturated fat, niacin, vitamin B12, Se and Zn. Meaningful shifts of the usual intake distributions of fibre and folate towards improvement in intakes emerged already in ‘scenario 70 g’. Overall, distribution shifts towards a higher probability of inadequate intakes of the studied nutrients were not observed.Conclusions:These results support the public health message to partly replace meat with legumes and may benefit nutrition policy actions towards sustainable diets in the Nordic countries and beyond.

Objective:To identify food purchase patterns and to assess their carbon footprint and expenditure.Design:Cross-sectional.Setting:Purchase patterns were identified by factor analysis from the annual purchases of 3435 product groups. The associations between purchase patterns and the total purchases’ carbon footprints (based on life-cycle assessment) and expenditure were analysed using linear regression and adjusted for nutritional energy content of the purchases.Participants:Loyalty card holders (n 22 860) of the largest food retailer in Finland.Results:Eight patterns explained 55 % of the variation in food purchases. The Animal-based pattern made the greatest contribution to the annual carbon footprint, followed by the Easy-cooking, and Ready-to-eat patterns. High-energy, Traditional and Plant-based patterns made the smallest contribution to the carbon footprint of the purchases. Animal-based, Ready-to-eat, Plant-based and High-energy patterns made the greatest contribution, whereas the Traditional and Easy-cooking patterns made the smallest contribution to food expenditure. Carbon footprint per euros spent increased with stronger adherence to the Traditional, Animal-based and Easy-cooking patterns.Conclusions:The Animal-based, Ready-to-eat and High-energy patterns were associated with relatively high expenditure on food, suggesting no economic barrier to a potential shift towards a plant-based diet for consumers adherent to those patterns. Strong adherence to the Traditional pattern resulted in a low energy-adjusted carbon footprint but high carbon footprint per euro. This suggests a preference for cheap nutritional energy rather than environment-conscious purchase behaviour. Whether a shift towards a plant-based pattern would be affordable for those with more traditional and cheaper purchase patterns requires more research.

Objective:To examine the prevalence and determinants of food insecurity among private sector service workers in Finland and assess validity of the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) tool.Design:In this cross-sectional study, food insecurity and background characteristics were collected from Finnish private service workers via electronic questionnaires (2019) and national register data (2018–2019). We conducted univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses to determine the variables explaining food insecurity. Validity of HFIAS was assessed with rotated principal component analysis and Cronbach’s α.Setting:Members of the trade union for private sector service workers, Service Union United (PAM), from all municipalities in Finland participated in the study in 2019.Participants:The subjects were 6435 private sector workers that were members of the Service Union United (PAM) in Finland. Mean age of participants was 44 years (sd 12·7 years).Results:Two-thirds of the participants (65 %) were food insecure with over a third (36 %) reporting severe food insecurity. Reporting great difficulties in covering household expenses and young age markedly increased the risk of severe food insecurity (OR 15·05; 95 % CI 10·60, 21·38 and OR 5·07; 95 % CI 3·94, 6·52, respectively). Not being married, low education, working in the hospitality industry, being male and living in rented housing also increased the probability of severe food insecurity. The HFIAS tool demonstrated acceptable construct and criterion validity.Conclusions:Severe food insecurity was widespread and associated with low socio-economic status, young age and being male among Finnish private sector service workers, emphasising the need for regular monitoring of food insecurity in Finland.

ObjectiveMaternal vitamin D level in pregnancy may have implications for both the mother and fetus. Deficiency of vitamin D has been linked to several pregnancy complications and fetal skeletal health. Smoking has been associated with reduced serum level of the vitamin D metabolite, 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D).DesignA nested case–control study within the Finnish Maternity Cohort, a population-based cohort which includes first-trimester sera from 98 % of pregnancies in Finland since 1987. The selection consisted of women with uncomplicated pregnancies. We studied serum concentration of 25(OH)D in 313 non-smoking and forty-six self-reported smoking pregnant women.SettingWe hypothesize that pregnant smokers may have an increased risk of low 25(OH)D levels especially during winter months.ParticipantsA control group from an unpublished pregnancy complication study consisting of 359 uncomplicated pregnancies. Individuals who reported that they do not smoke were considered ‘non-smokers’ (n 313) and those who reported continued smoking after the first trimester of pregnancy were considered ‘smokers’ (n 46).ResultsSmokers had significantly lower levels of 25(OH)D irrespective of sampling time (PConclusionsExpectant mothers who smoke have an increased risk of vitamin D deficiency during low sun-exposure months in northern regions. Further studies are needed to assess the associated risks for maternal and fetal health as well as possible long-term implications for the infant.