Pekka Puska
Biographic Data
| ID | 1743631 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Pekka Puska |
| GIVEN NAMES | Pekka |
| FAMILY NAME | Puska |
| SIGNATURE | PUSKA P |
| AFFILIATIONS | Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-8916-1035 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 37 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 83 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 37 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1980 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Cross-sectional study of the associations between the implementation of the WHO FCTC tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship bans and current e-cigarette use among youth from countries with dif…
Strengthening implementation of TAPS policies and assuring they cover new and emerging products, online channels and points of sales are essential, especially in lower income countries. Maintaining tobacco health education is also important to protect youth from e-cigarette use
Implementation of the Article 13 WHO FCTC measures and changes in cigarette smoking among youth in 42 countries
INTRODUCTION: Despite a decline in global smoking prevalence among adolescents, around 21 million youth report current cigarette smoking. Exposure to tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship (TAPS) is a risk factor for smoking initiation, and therefore the Article 13 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) requires comprehensive TAPS bans. We examined the associations between changes in youth cigarette smoking and impl…
Impact of the WHO FCTC on tobacco control: Perspectives from stakeholders in 12 countries
The FCTC was reported to have made contributions along the entire policy/regulation process: the development of a measure, building legislative and political support for a measure and its implementation. These stakeholder perspectives support the conclusion that the FCTC has played a pivotal role in accelerating and strengthening the implementation of tobacco control measures, although tobacco industry interference continues to be a significant o…
Effect of physical inactivity on major non-communicable diseases worldwide: An analysis of burden of disease and life expectancy
Authors’ reply to the Invited commentary by Boyd Swinburn on ‘Awareness and use of the Heart Symbol by Finnish consumers’
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Awareness and use of the Heart Symbol by Finnish consumers
Objective To study the awareness of the Heart Symbol in different age and educational groups, and changes in the awareness over a 9-year period. In addition, the reported use of products with the symbol was examined. Design A series of annual cross-sectional postal surveys on Health Behaviour and Health among the Finnish Adult Population. Setting A random sample ( n 5000 per annum) from the Finnish population aged 15–64 years, drawn from the Nati…
Enhancing global capacity in the surveillance, prevention, and control of chronic diseases: Seven themes to consider and build upon: Table 1
BACKGROUND: Chronic diseases are now a major health problem in developing countries as well as in the developed world. Although chronic diseases cannot be communicated from person to person, their risk factors (for example, smoking, inactivity, dietary habits) are readily transferred around the world. With increasing human progress and technological advance, the pandemic of chronic diseases will become an even bigger threat to global health. METH…
Vision for a Global Registry of Anticipated Public Health Studies
In public health, the generation, management, and transfer of knowledge all need major improvement. Problems in generating knowledge include an imbalance in research funding, publication bias, unnecessary studies, adherence to fashion, and undue interest in novel and immediate issues. Impaired generation of knowledge, combined with a dated and inadequate process for managing knowledge and an inefficient system for transferring knowledge, mean a d…
Can scientists and policy makers work together: Table 1
This paper addresses a fundamental question in evidence based policy making—can scientists and policy makers work together? It first provides a scenario outlining the different mentalities and imperatives of scientists and policy makers, and then discusses various issues and solutions relating to whether and how scientists and policy makers can work together. Scientists and policy makers have different goals, attitudes toward information, languag…
Consistency of use of plant stanol ester margarine in Finland
Objective: The aims of this study were to investigate the consistency of use of plant stanol ester margarine and to characterise consistent and inconsistent users. Design: A cohort of plant stanol ester margarine users was established based on 14 national surveys conducted by the National Public Health Institute in Finland between 1996 and 1999. A follow-up study questionnaire was developed and sent to 1294 users in 2000. Setting: Subjects who re…
Part III. Can we turn back the clock or modify the adverse dynamics? Programme and policy issues: Influencing public nutrition for non-communicable disease prevention: from community intervention to n…
A global health transition is currently underway. The burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is increasing rapidly in the developing world, very much as a result of changes in lifestyles. In addition to changes in tobacco use and physical activity, major changes are taking place in diets, contributing greatly to the growing epidemic of NCD. Thus, a huge global public health challenge is how to influence the trends in diet and nutrition for ef…
Do we learn our lessons from the population-based interventions
Since the 1970s a great number of community-based or population-based intervention studies have been carried out, for prevention of cardiovascular diseases, but also for prevention of other related chronic diseases.1-3 The basic idea is that the intervention is targeted to the total population living in the community or in a defined area. The principles and methods of evaluation have been developed and discussed along with those projects.4-6 Comm…
Quit and Win campaigns as a long-term anti-smoking intervention in North Karelia and other parts of Finland
The Quit and Win campaign is a feasible cessation method in long-term community-wide programmes. Intensified community activities are associated with higher success. In repeat campaigns, high participation and abstinence rates can be maintained
Development of smoking by birth cohort in the adult population in eastern Finland 1972-97
In men decreased initiation and increased cessation contributed to the downward trend in smoking prevalence, whereas among women, changes in smoking were mostly caused by augmented initiation in successive birth cohorts. During the study period educational inequalities in smoking widened, as the less highly educated came increasingly to form the smoking population
Supermarket sales data: A tool for measuring regional differences in dietary habits
Objective To assess how well supermarket sales data from a major supermarket chain can reflect on regional differences in dietary behaviour by comparing the sales data with the results provided by the annual health behaviour surveys. Design Cross-sectional observational study. Setting The study was carried out in six Finnish cities situated in different parts of Finland. For the study supermarket sales data of milk, sour milk, fats and oils for 1…
Comparing smoking and smoking cessation process in the Republic of Karelia, Russia and North Karelia, Finland
STUDY OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study were to assess and validate self reported smoking prevalence and to assess smoking cessation related process variables in the Republic of Karelia, Russia and in North Karelia, Finland. DESIGN: Comparative population surveys of random population samples from both areas in spring 1992. The study included a self administered questionnaire, physical measurements and laboratory tests. The validity of self report…
Sales data of a supermarket – a tool for monitoring nutrition interventions
Objective: The aim of the study was to examine the daily variations in sales data for individual food items in a supermarket and to assess the usefulness of the computerized sales data of supermarkets for reliable monitoring and evaluation of shopping behaviour. Design: Longitudinal observational study. Setting: The study was carried out in one supermarket in Mikkeli, Finland. Seventy-nine packed food items from food groups important for salt and…
Do changes in cardiovascular risk factors explain the increasing socioeconomic difference in mortality from ischaemic heart disease in Finland
STUDY OBJECTIVE: To estimate the extent to which changes in blood pressure, smoking, and serum cholesterol concentration explain the observed increase in socioeconomic differences in mortality from ischaemic heart disease (IHD) in Finland during the past 20 years. DESIGN: Predicted changes in mortality from IHD were calculated using logistic regression models with the risk factor levels assessed by cross sectional population surveys conducted in …
Fifteen-year follow-up of smoking prevention effects in the North Karelia youth project
OBJECTIVES: This study evaluated the long-term effects of a school- and community-based smoking prevention program in Finland. METHODS: Four intervention schools from North Karelia and two control schools from another province were chosen for the evaluation. Students who received the intervention were taught to resist social pressures to smoke. The program began in 1978 with seventh-grade students and ran through 1980, with a 15-year follow-up. I…
Nicotine dependence versus smoking prevalence: Comparisons among countries and categories of smokers
Successful tobacco control may result in a higher dependence among the remaining smokers (due to selective quitting by low-dependent smokers). The remaining highly dependent smokers may need more intensive treatment
Health promotion challenges for countries of the former Soviet Union: Results from collaboration between Estonia, Russian Karelia and Finland
Relationship between educational status, gender and smoking in Finland, 1978–1992
In several countries, the decline in smoking prevalence has been faster among the more educated groups compared with the less educated The aim of the study was to analyse self-reported smoking by years of education among Finnish men and women from 1978 to 1992. The data were collected annually by postal questionnaires from a random sample of 20–64-year-old Finns. Response rates varied between 68% (1985) and 86% (1978), averaging 79%, and the numb…
Combined use of nicotine patch and gum compared with gum alone in smoking cessation - a clinical trial in North Karelia
Coronary risk factor levels: Differences between educational groups in 1972-87 in eastern Finland
STUDY OBJECTIVE--To compare differences in coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factor levels between educational groups in the 1970s and 1980s in eastern Finland. DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS--Independent, cross sectional population surveys were undertaken in 1972, 1977, 1982, and 1987 of randomly selected men and women aged 30-59 living in two provinces in eastern Finland. Altogether 20,096 subjects participated. The lowest observed level of participat…
Eight-year follow-up results of an adolescent smoking prevention program: The North Karelia Youth Project
In the North Karelia Youth Program five to 10 classroom sessions over two years taught skills to resist pressures to start smoking to 13 to 15 year old students. Compared to students from comparison schools, the treatment groups reported less smoking immediately after the intervention and in a four-year follow-up survey. At the eight-year follow-up, there was consistent evidence of possible preventive effects only among those who had been non-smo…
Can scientists and policy makers work together: Table 1
This paper addresses a fundamental question in evidence based policy making—can scientists and policy makers work together? It first provides a scenario outlining the different mentalities and imperatives of scientists and policy makers, and then discusses various issues and solutions relating to whether and how scientists and policy makers can work together. Scientists and policy makers have different goals, attitudes toward information, languag…
Theory and action for health promotion illustrations from the North Karelia Project
The North Karelia Project in Finland illustrates the fundamental goals of health promotion. Specific activities of the project serve as examples of how concepts from the social and behavioral sciences can be applied to achieve estimated reductions in predicted risk of disease. The results in North Karelia are not conclusive, but they are encouraging, and the investigations conducted there is an essential reference for future research in health pr…
Do changes in cardiovascular risk factors explain the increasing socioeconomic difference in mortality from ischaemic heart disease in Finland
STUDY OBJECTIVE: To estimate the extent to which changes in blood pressure, smoking, and serum cholesterol concentration explain the observed increase in socioeconomic differences in mortality from ischaemic heart disease (IHD) in Finland during the past 20 years. DESIGN: Predicted changes in mortality from IHD were calculated using logistic regression models with the risk factor levels assessed by cross sectional population surveys conducted in …
Eight-year follow-up results of an adolescent smoking prevention program: The North Karelia Youth Project
In the North Karelia Youth Program five to 10 classroom sessions over two years taught skills to resist pressures to start smoking to 13 to 15 year old students. Compared to students from comparison schools, the treatment groups reported less smoking immediately after the intervention and in a four-year follow-up survey. At the eight-year follow-up, there was consistent evidence of possible preventive effects only among those who had been non-smo…
Fifteen-year follow-up of smoking prevention effects in the North Karelia youth project
OBJECTIVES: This study evaluated the long-term effects of a school- and community-based smoking prevention program in Finland. METHODS: Four intervention schools from North Karelia and two control schools from another province were chosen for the evaluation. Students who received the intervention were taught to resist social pressures to smoke. The program began in 1978 with seventh-grade students and ran through 1980, with a 15-year follow-up. I…
Coronary risk factor levels: Differences between educational groups in 1972-87 in eastern Finland
STUDY OBJECTIVE--To compare differences in coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factor levels between educational groups in the 1970s and 1980s in eastern Finland. DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS--Independent, cross sectional population surveys were undertaken in 1972, 1977, 1982, and 1987 of randomly selected men and women aged 30-59 living in two provinces in eastern Finland. Altogether 20,096 subjects participated. The lowest observed level of participat…
Enhancing global capacity in the surveillance, prevention, and control of chronic diseases: Seven themes to consider and build upon: Table 1
BACKGROUND: Chronic diseases are now a major health problem in developing countries as well as in the developed world. Although chronic diseases cannot be communicated from person to person, their risk factors (for example, smoking, inactivity, dietary habits) are readily transferred around the world. With increasing human progress and technological advance, the pandemic of chronic diseases will become an even bigger threat to global health. METH…
Coffee consumption is correlated with serum cholesterol in middle-aged Finnish men and women
The association between coffee consumption and serum cholesterol was studied in a cross-sectional epidemiological study in Finland where the annual per capita consumption of coffee (13.0 kg) is the highest in the world. Coffee consumption was assessed by a questionnaire in a representative population sample of 4744 men and 4495 women aged 25 to 64 years. Serum total cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol concentrations were determined in fresh sera by t…
The changing role and legitimate boundaries of epidemiology: Community-Based Prevention Programmes
Comparing smoking and smoking cessation process in the Republic of Karelia, Russia and North Karelia, Finland
STUDY OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study were to assess and validate self reported smoking prevalence and to assess smoking cessation related process variables in the Republic of Karelia, Russia and in North Karelia, Finland. DESIGN: Comparative population surveys of random population samples from both areas in spring 1992. The study included a self administered questionnaire, physical measurements and laboratory tests. The validity of self report…
Changes in perceived heart disease risk and health during a community-based heart disease prevention program: The North Karelia project
To test whether the cardiovascular disease declines in North Karelia were accompanied by subjective improvements in health, we analyzed responses to two questions about perceived risk of heart disease and health status on independent random population samples surveyed 10 years apart. Age stratified perceived risk of heart disease declined significantly more (p less than .01) and age stratified perceived health status improved significantly more i…
Vision for a Global Registry of Anticipated Public Health Studies
In public health, the generation, management, and transfer of knowledge all need major improvement. Problems in generating knowledge include an imbalance in research funding, publication bias, unnecessary studies, adherence to fashion, and undue interest in novel and immediate issues. Impaired generation of knowledge, combined with a dated and inadequate process for managing knowledge and an inefficient system for transferring knowledge, mean a d…
Mass communication and community organization for public health education
Theory and action for health promotion illustrations from the North Karelia Project
The North Karelia Project in Finland illustrates the fundamental goals of health promotion. Specific activities of the project serve as examples of how concepts from the social and behavioral sciences can be applied to achieve estimated reductions in predicted risk of disease. The results in North Karelia are not conclusive, but they are encouraging, and the investigations conducted there is an essential reference for future research in health pr…
A Decline in Earning Losses Associated With a Community-Based Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Project
Permanent and temporary disability pension award data and survey data were used to estimate the lower bound of earning losses related to cardiovascular disease during a community-based cardiovascular disease prevention program in Eastern Finland. Earning losses due to death totaled $39.94 million but were not affected by the project. Earning losses due to permanent disability totalled +29.01 million and were $4.25 million less than expected (p le…
Changes in perceived heart disease risk and health during a community-based heart disease prevention program: The North Karelia project
To test whether the cardiovascular disease declines in North Karelia were accompanied by subjective improvements in health, we analyzed responses to two questions about perceived risk of heart disease and health status on independent random population samples surveyed 10 years apart. Age stratified perceived risk of heart disease declined significantly more (p less than .01) and age stratified perceived health status improved significantly more i…
Prevention of non-communicable diseases: Risk factors in youth: The North Karelia Youth Project (1984–88)
The North Karelia Youth Project is based on the results of previous pilot studies in North Karelia and forms part of the North Karelia integrated programme for non-communicable diseases prevention, co-ordinated by the WHO and conducted by the Finnish National Public Health Institute. The project is designed to test the feasibility and effects of a largescale health programme among 12–16 year old schoolchildren. The educational programme aims to p…
The East Finland Berry and Vegetable Project: A health-related structural intervention programme
Cost-effectiveness of the North Karelia Hypertension Program 1972-1977
The North Karelia Hypertension Program was initiated in 1972 as part of the North Karelia Project. This article examines the costs and effects of the first 5 years of the project. There were 288 fewer than expected fatal strokes and myocardial infarctions during the period; 134 of these are attributable to the hypertension program. The costs of the hypertension program totalled $5.16 million. Drugs consumed 86% of this cost. Using the zero discou…
Comparison of health status between Portuguese and Finnish elderly people
Coffee consumption is correlated with serum cholesterol in middle-aged Finnish men and women
The association between coffee consumption and serum cholesterol was studied in a cross-sectional epidemiological study in Finland where the annual per capita consumption of coffee (13.0 kg) is the highest in the world. Coffee consumption was assessed by a questionnaire in a representative population sample of 4744 men and 4495 women aged 25 to 64 years. Serum total cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol concentrations were determined in fresh sera by t…
The changing role and legitimate boundaries of epidemiology: Community-Based Prevention Programmes
Social Connections and Mortality From All Causes and From Cardiovascular Disease: Prospective Evidence From Eastern Finland
The association between an a priori measure of social connections and five-year mortality from all causes, cardiovascular diseases (International Classification of Diseases, Eighth Revision (ICD-8) codes 390-458), and ischemic heart disease (ICD-8 codes 410-414) was studied in 13,301 men and women from eastern Finland who were first interviewed in 1972 or 1977. For men, there was a graded association between extent of social connections and morta…
Two years of the East Finland Berry and Vegetable Project: An offshoot of the North Karelia Project
The East Finland Berry and Vegetable Project was launched in 1986 on the initiative of the North Karelia Project, as a broad cooperative effort to increase the consumption of domestic berry and vegetable products. The justification of the Project was the obvious health benefits of these products. The Project aims to combine health interests with several national and regional economic interests. The increased consumption of domestic berries and ve…
Eight-year follow-up results of an adolescent smoking prevention program: The North Karelia Youth Project
In the North Karelia Youth Program five to 10 classroom sessions over two years taught skills to resist pressures to start smoking to 13 to 15 year old students. Compared to students from comparison schools, the treatment groups reported less smoking immediately after the intervention and in a four-year follow-up survey. At the eight-year follow-up, there was consistent evidence of possible preventive effects only among those who had been non-smo…
Health promotion challenges for countries of the former Soviet Union: Results from collaboration between Estonia, Russian Karelia and Finland
Relationship between educational status, gender and smoking in Finland, 1978–1992
In several countries, the decline in smoking prevalence has been faster among the more educated groups compared with the less educated The aim of the study was to analyse self-reported smoking by years of education among Finnish men and women from 1978 to 1992. The data were collected annually by postal questionnaires from a random sample of 20–64-year-old Finns. Response rates varied between 68% (1985) and 86% (1978), averaging 79%, and the numb…
Combined use of nicotine patch and gum compared with gum alone in smoking cessation - a clinical trial in North Karelia
Coronary risk factor levels: Differences between educational groups in 1972-87 in eastern Finland
STUDY OBJECTIVE--To compare differences in coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factor levels between educational groups in the 1970s and 1980s in eastern Finland. DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS--Independent, cross sectional population surveys were undertaken in 1972, 1977, 1982, and 1987 of randomly selected men and women aged 30-59 living in two provinces in eastern Finland. Altogether 20,096 subjects participated. The lowest observed level of participat…
Nicotine dependence versus smoking prevalence: Comparisons among countries and categories of smokers
Successful tobacco control may result in a higher dependence among the remaining smokers (due to selective quitting by low-dependent smokers). The remaining highly dependent smokers may need more intensive treatment
Sales data of a supermarket – a tool for monitoring nutrition interventions
Objective: The aim of the study was to examine the daily variations in sales data for individual food items in a supermarket and to assess the usefulness of the computerized sales data of supermarkets for reliable monitoring and evaluation of shopping behaviour. Design: Longitudinal observational study. Setting: The study was carried out in one supermarket in Mikkeli, Finland. Seventy-nine packed food items from food groups important for salt and…
Do changes in cardiovascular risk factors explain the increasing socioeconomic difference in mortality from ischaemic heart disease in Finland
STUDY OBJECTIVE: To estimate the extent to which changes in blood pressure, smoking, and serum cholesterol concentration explain the observed increase in socioeconomic differences in mortality from ischaemic heart disease (IHD) in Finland during the past 20 years. DESIGN: Predicted changes in mortality from IHD were calculated using logistic regression models with the risk factor levels assessed by cross sectional population surveys conducted in …
Fifteen-year follow-up of smoking prevention effects in the North Karelia youth project
OBJECTIVES: This study evaluated the long-term effects of a school- and community-based smoking prevention program in Finland. METHODS: Four intervention schools from North Karelia and two control schools from another province were chosen for the evaluation. Students who received the intervention were taught to resist social pressures to smoke. The program began in 1978 with seventh-grade students and ran through 1980, with a 15-year follow-up. I…
Quit and Win campaigns as a long-term anti-smoking intervention in North Karelia and other parts of Finland
The Quit and Win campaign is a feasible cessation method in long-term community-wide programmes. Intensified community activities are associated with higher success. In repeat campaigns, high participation and abstinence rates can be maintained
Development of smoking by birth cohort in the adult population in eastern Finland 1972-97
In men decreased initiation and increased cessation contributed to the downward trend in smoking prevalence, whereas among women, changes in smoking were mostly caused by augmented initiation in successive birth cohorts. During the study period educational inequalities in smoking widened, as the less highly educated came increasingly to form the smoking population
Supermarket sales data: A tool for measuring regional differences in dietary habits
Objective To assess how well supermarket sales data from a major supermarket chain can reflect on regional differences in dietary behaviour by comparing the sales data with the results provided by the annual health behaviour surveys. Design Cross-sectional observational study. Setting The study was carried out in six Finnish cities situated in different parts of Finland. For the study supermarket sales data of milk, sour milk, fats and oils for 1…
Comparing smoking and smoking cessation process in the Republic of Karelia, Russia and North Karelia, Finland
STUDY OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study were to assess and validate self reported smoking prevalence and to assess smoking cessation related process variables in the Republic of Karelia, Russia and in North Karelia, Finland. DESIGN: Comparative population surveys of random population samples from both areas in spring 1992. The study included a self administered questionnaire, physical measurements and laboratory tests. The validity of self report…
Medicine (33 works) · Environmental health (25 works) · Population (15 works) · Political science (14 works) · Demography (13 works) · Public health (12 works) · Smoking Behavior and Cessation (11 works) · Nursing (10 works) · Gerontology (9 works) · Gerontology (9 works)