Trajectories of health and wellbeing in Northern Finland

In our Life-course Epidemiology research group, we are developing projects to understand health across the lifespan. Yes, we are trying to answer the question millions of people are wondering about: Is my health programmed? And if so, is it defined by my genome, the sum of my genes, or by my exposome, the sum of my environmental exposures?

So what…? As a researcher, what can I do about it? For the last 24 years, I have been researching the problem of obesity, and I often stop to think: What makes it so hard to prevent or treat a chronic disease like obesity, while any random citizen might tell you that it’s simply a matter of discipline? People just need to eat less and move more. Or again, it’s a problem of education… Are we, as researchers and doctors, so bad that we fail to find solutions to this seemingly simple problem? That’s one possibility!

The other possibility is that health is not that simple. We often reduce it to an interaction between genes and the environment, but how does it work in real life?

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Quite idealistic indeed. But, well… isn’t it part of our job to aim for better futures?

Health is a condition in which people achieve control over their lives through the equitable distribution of power and resources. It can be seen as a collective value; my health, [your health] cannot be achieved at the expense of others, nor through the excessive use of natural resources.

Amazingly, the University of Oulu offers a one-of-a-kind opportunity to quantify and study the life-course determinants of health. Since the 1960s, generations of scientists at the university have initiated the Northern Finland Birth Cohort research program, with its iconic and unique Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966. It is a privilege for me, as its scientific director, to prepare for its 60th anniversary and ensure its continued follow-up for future generations of scientists.

With this work, we aim to continue demonstrating the importance of prevention and to inform how, when, and why a health trajectory can diverge. This knowledge can be transferred to ambitious health policies in Finland and Europe.

The blog post is based on Sylvain Sebert’s speech at the University of Oulu’s Opening Ceremony of the Academic Year on 9 September 2024.