Diet, lifestyle and genetic susceptibility
Every day, each Dane consumes an average of 3 kilograms of food and fluids, which amounts to a ton each year. Food consumption habits have both health and environmental consequences. In the research group, we study associations between diet, lifestyle and health. The main outcomes we focus on are obesity, cardiovascular disease and cancer, both in one generation and across generations in families. Increasingly, we also study the interplay between food consumption, environmental impact, and health.
Research areas
- Applying novel methods to assess associations between diet and health
- Modelled substitution of foods
- Socioeconomic determinants of food and drink habits
- Associations between diet, lifestyle and obesity exposures in one generation, and health outcomes in the next
- Environmentally sustainable foods or dietary habits and health
- The interplay between genetic variation, diet, and health
Recent publications
Publications
Rosendal, L. B., Bundgaard, C., Zhang, J., Olsen, A., Rostgaard-Hansen, A. L., Dahm, C. C. & Ibsen, D. B. (2026). Adherence to the EAT-Lancet diet and risk of colorectal cancer in the general population and among individuals with diabetes: a cohort study. European Journal of Nutrition, 65(3), Article 90. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-026-03936-6
Ibsen, D. B., Sowah, S. A., Imamura, F., De Lucia Rolfe, E., Brage, S., Griffin, S. J., Wareham, N. J. & Forouhi, N. G. (2026). Association between changes in adherence to the planetary health diet and adiposity and body fat distribution: a cohort study. The Lancet Regional Health - Europe, 65, Article 101651. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanepe.2026.101651
Ren, X., Nicolas, G., Schulze, M. B., Simeon, V., Chirlaque López, M. D., Padroni, L., Abilleira, E., Agudo, A., Grioni, S., Mellemkjær, L., Andersen, J. M., Le Cornet, C., Katzke, V., Delfrade, J., Dahm, C. C., Christensen, A. K. L., Weiderpass, E., Sánchez, M. J., Masala, G. ... Mancini, F. R. (2026). Associations between dietary exposure to dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and Longitudinal changes in weight and waist circumference– an EPIC study. Clinical Nutrition, 60, Article 106619. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnu.2026.106619
Bondonno, N. P., Pokharel, P., Parmenter, B. H., Zhong, L., Erichsen, D. W., Schullehner, J., Frederiksen, K., Kyrø, C., Hendriksen, P. F., Hodgson, J. M., Sigsgaard, T., Dahm, C. C., Tjønneland, A., Thompson, A. S., Kühn, T., Cassidy, A., Olsen, A. & Bondonno, C. P. (2026). Associations between source-specific nitrate and nitrite intakes and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease in two prospective cohorts. Clinical Nutrition, 60, Article 106628. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnu.2026.106628
Breeur, M., Atkins, J., Peruchet-Noray, L., Bonheme, L., Alcala, N., Dossus, L., Jenab, M., Johansson, M., Rinaldi, S., Travis, R. C., Bork, C., Dahm, C. C., Tjønneland, A., Olsen, A., Naudin, S., Park, S., Truong, T., Katzke, V., Le Cornet, C. ... Viallon, V. (2026). Autoencoders reveal polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA)-Related metabolic signature linked to cancer risk. EBioMedicine, 124, Article 106147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2026.106147
Pham, T. T., Nimptsch, K., Aleksandrova, K., Jenab, M., Fedirko, V., Olsen, A., Tjønneland, A., Cadeau, C., Severi, G., Schulze, M. B., Fortner, R. T., Katzke, V., Agnoli, C., Sacerdote, C., Tumino, R., Signoriello, S., Trobajo-Sanmartín, C., Gómez, J. H., Chirlaque, M. D. ... Pischon, T. (2026). Circulating fatty acid binding protein 4 (FABP-4) concentrations and mortality in individuals with colorectal cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study. International Journal of Cancer, 158(3), 546-559. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijc.70090
Zilhao, N. R., Zhang, J., Boomsma, D. I., Sørensen, T. I. A. & Dahm, C. C. (2026). Deviation From Genetically Predicted BMI and All-Cause Mortality: A Cohort Study in the UK Biobank. Obesity, 34(1), 228-236. https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.70042
