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Introduction: Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) constitute a massive global burden and are the leading cause of death and disability worldwide. In Greenland, the prevalence of NCDs has historically been low. However, during the past approximately 70 years, life circumstances have changed dramatically resulting in increased life expectancy. Today, the proportion of inhabitants in Greenland ≥65 years has nearly tripled since the 1980s, and the prevalence of obesity and diabetes has increased rapidly within the past decades. The aim of this study was to describe the burden of selected NCDs in a primary care setting in Nuuk and compare it to a modern westernized suburban general practice in Denmark. Methods: The study was performed as a cross sectional register-based study using data extracted from the electronic medical records (EMR) based on diagnosis codes from inhabitants living in Nuuk, Greenland, and a suburb in Denmark. Estimates of prevalence were age-standardized to the WHO world standard population. Results: In both Nuuk and the Danish suburb, the highest prevalence was observed for hypertension (13.2% for both populations), followed by asthma (4.4 and 9.5%, respectively) and diabetes (4.3 and 2.9%, respectively). The age-standardized prevalences of diabetes, COPD, atrial fibrillation, and heart failure, were significantly higher in Nuuk, while seven NCDs including asthma, ischemic heart disease, arthritis urica, psoriasis, hyperthyreosis, hypothyreosis and osteoporosis were significantly higher in the Danish suburb. Conclusion: In contrast to the disease pattern observed in Greenland in the last century, the prevalence of diagnosed NCDs in Nuuk is no longer rare. Thus, the overall prevalence of NCDs in the population of Nuuk is now comparable to or even higher than in the suburb in Denmark. This calls for increased focus on all NCDs in the primary healthcare system in Greenland and adaption of the primary healthcare services to a changed disease spectrum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to estimate prevalence of patients with asthma in Greenland according to age, gender and residence and to investigate the associated quality of care. The study was performed as a cross-sectional study with data extracted from the Greenlandic electronical medical record. A total of 870 patients aged 12 years or above were diagnosed with asthma at the end of 2022, corresponding to a prevalence of 1.9%. In 2020, the total prevalence was 0.2%. The prevalence of patients aged 12 years or above with asthma was highest among patients in Nuuk (3.3%) compared with patients in the remaining parts of Greenland (1.1%). More women than men were diagnosed with asthma, and the prevalence increased with age from 20 to 59 years. The prevalence of current smokers was high among the asthma population. The quality of care was significantly higher among patients living in Nuuk for all process indicators compared with patients from the remaining parts of Greenland. The prevalence of asthma in Greenland is low compared to other comparable populations and might be underestimated. Initiatives supporting increased focus on diagnosing asthma are thus warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction To quantify the effect of Christmas vs. New Year's resolutions season on snacking preferences by measuring intake of four different snacks. Methods Prospective ad libitum intervention snacking study with four combinations of sweet/savory and fatty/non-fatty snacks: cookies, candy, TUC crackers, and rye crackers. A snacking buffet, continuously refilled by a secret Santa, was provided during the Christmas season and New Year's Resolutions season by the secret Santas of the office. Participants were diabetes researchers and were not informed about the study before the end of data collection. The main outcome was daily intake (g) of the four snacks. Results In general, the intake of candy was high compared to the other snacks. The average intake of cookies was significantly higher during the Christmas season compared to New Year's resolution season (8 g/day/participant, p = 0.03), but decreased when approaching Christmas and increased again as time passed by after Christmas (although not significantly). The strongest correlation between the intake of snacks was found between the two sweet snacks, i.e., candy and cookies. Conclusion Researchers have a high preference for sweet foods, especially candy. Irrespective of the type of snack, the preference for cookies was high during the Christmas season but seemed to decrease with decreasing proximity to Christmas, hence, canceling Christmas will unlikely improve diet quality. In fact, we encourage further research to consider whether having Christmas all year could be a potential prevention strategy in the combat of the obesity pandemic. Funding none. Trial registration none., (Published under Open Access CC-BY-NC-BD 4.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.)