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The Nordic diet is characterized by a high content of plant-based food and a limited content of animal and processed food. Intervention studies show with moderate evidence that Nordic diet reduces risk factors for cardiovascular diseases (blood pressure, total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol). Observational studies show with weak evidence that Nordic diet reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases e.g. stroke and myocardial infarcts and with moderate evidence reduces cardiovascular death. Thus, Nordic diet appears beneficial for cardiovascular health as well as for the climate and the environment, as argued in this review.

Healthy food and meal habits can help promote and maintain good health throughout life. Only few 4-18-year-olds follow official Danish dietary recommendations, leaving room for improvement, notably among 13-18-year-old adolescents and children and adolescents of parents with short-term education. Specific focus areas for all families with children may help limit intake of sugary foods and beverages on weekends. Promotion of healthy food and meal habits among children and adolescents call for a comprehensive and well-coordinated approach with participation of main stakeholders in the field.

A catalytic manganese (Mn) cluster is required for the oxidation of water in the oxygen-evolving complex (OEC) of photosystem II (PSII) in plants. Despite this essential role of Mn in generating the electrons driving photosynthesis, limited information is available on how Mn deficiency affects PSII functionality. We have here used parameters derived from measurements of fluorescence induction kinetics (OJIP transients), non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) and PSII subunit composition to investigate how latent Mn deficiency changes the photochemistry in two barley genotypes differing in Mn efficiency. Mn deficiency caused dramatic reductions in the quantum yield of PSII and led to the appearance of two new inflection points, the K step and the D dip, in the OJIP fluorescence transients, indicating severe damage to the OEC. In addition, Mn deficiency decreased the ability to induce NPQ in the light, rendering the plants incapable of dissipating excess energy in a controlled way. Thus, the Mn deficient plants became severely affected in their ability to recover from high light-induced photoinhibition, especially under strong Mn deficiency. Interestingly, the Mn-efficient genotype was able to maintain a higher NPQ than the Mn-inefficient genotype when exposed to mild Mn deficiency. However, during severe Mn deficiency, there were no differences between the two genotypes, suggesting a general loss of the ability to disassemble and repair PSII. The pronounced defects of PSII activity were supported by a dramatic decrease in the abundance of the OEC protein subunits, PsbP and PsbQ in response to Mn deficiency for both genotypes. We conclude that regulation of photosynthetic performance by means of maintaining and inducing NPQ mechanisms contribute to genotypic differences in the Mn efficiency of barley genotypes growing under conditions with mild Mn deficiency.