Study objective-The aim was to examine (1) whether health habits are associated with body fat distribution, as measured by the waist/hip girth ratio, and (2)

The prevalence of diabetes mellitus and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) was determined in a random sample of the population aged 45-64 years in three areas of Finland. The two-hour oral glucose tolerance test was repeated in subjects whose first test suggested abnormal glucose tolerance. In the final classification, based on the results of the two tests, the age-standardized prevalence of diabetes, according to the WHO criteria was 5.7% (95% confidence interval (CI): 4.3-7.1) in men and 4.6% (95% CI: 3.6-5.0) in women. The prevalence of IGT was 3.1% (95% CI: 2.1-4.1) in men and 5.1% (95% CI: 3.9-6.3) in women. Among those aged 55-64 years the prevalence was 6.9% in men and 7.5% in women. The prevalence of diabetes and IGT were not different between the three areas. The age-specific mean values of fasting and two-hour blood concentrations and the 90th percentiles of the blood glucose distributions were also not different between the areas. The prevalence of IGT and diabetes increased with age more steeply among women than men. The median of fasting blood glucose did not change, but the 90th percentile increased with increasing age. The entire distribution of two-hour blood glucose shifted towards higher values with ageing, but the major increase was seen for the 95th percentile. The majority of the diabetic subjects were aware of their condition. The awareness was better among men than women.

It has been proposed that environmental chemicalization is responsible for the recent decline in male ratio, but these speculations are based on statistics going back only a few decades. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether Finnish long-term data are compatible with the hypothesis that the decrease in the ratio of male to female births in industrial countries is caused by environmental factors. We analyzed the sex ratio of births from the files of Statistics Finland and all live births in Finland from 1751 to 1997. Running averages of 9 years (1751-1904) or 5 years (1905-1997) were analyzed for sex ratios. Additionally, to identify potential explanations for the findings, births from 1990 to 1997 were correlated with various family parameters. We found an increase in the proportion of males from 1751 to 1920; this was followed by a decrease and interrupted by peaks in births of males during and after World War I and World War II. None of the family parameters (paternal age, maternal age, age difference of parents, birth order) could explain the time trends. The turning point of male proportion precedes the period of industrialization or the introduction of pesticides or hormonal drugs, rendering a causal association unlikely. Moreover the trends are similar to those observed in other countries with worse pollution and much greater pesticide use.ImagesFigure 1Figure 2Figure 3

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